A Place At The Table

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR

Special to The Jewish News

very year, just for a reaction,
Rabbi David Nelson tells his
wife, Alicia, that he is think-
ing about cancelling the
Congregation Beth Shalom annual sec-
ond-night seder.
And a reaction is what he gets.
"I tell him, 'You wouldn't dare,"' Ali-
cia Nelson said. "He laughs every time,
so I know he is just kidding.
"The feelinc, is so different from the
home seder. There is such a wonderful
sense of community," she said. "Besides,
I don't have to cook, I don't have to
clean and I don't have to worry about
everybody having a good time. I can
just walk in and sit down like a lady."
So, for the 26th year, the congrega-
tion will hold its seder after sundown
on Saturday, April 11. It will be the
-only Conservative congregation in the
'Detroit area hosting such an affair,
mostly because of the second night's
juxtaposition with Shabbat.
In fact, the second-night seder, the
most popular community seder night
during Passover, is almost entirely a
Reform affair, with hundreds of congre-
gants packing the temples for tradition-
al catered meals. This year, every
;Reform congregation in the Detroit
Jewish community — from Bet
Chaverim in Canton to Beth El in
Bloomfield Township, from Shir
Shalom in West Bloomfield to Shir Tik-
vah in Troy — plans to roll out the car-
pet for the event.
Because literally thousands of Detroi-
ters plan to attend one of these seders,
organizers say hosting a massive seder is
:an undertaking involving numerous
volunteers and staff Notices have to be
sent out, reservations have to be count-
ed, food ordered, tables customized to
family size.
"This is much harder than doing my
own seder for my family and I am not
even cooking," said Alice Blumberg,
Temple Emanu-El's chairwoman for the
\-- -linual Passover seder. "There are so
many other details, like seating arrange-
ments and reservations that you don't
have to do with your own seder.
"It literally is weeks worth of work,"
she said.
Janis Levin-Gorelick of Classic Cui-
sine, the caterer at the Birmingham
Temple, agrees. As the organizer of the

Community seders are popular.

Congregations offer a spiritual home
for the holidays with
popular second-night seders.

temple's annual seder she enjoys the end
product but is less than enthused about
particular tasks essential to the seder.
"It is a lot of work. It is dirty work,
too," she said. "I mean, making gefilte
fish and chopped liver is not my
favorite task."
Clergy members also labor to pre-
pare, setting aside time to create or find
new activities and songs to add to the
seder.
Some congregations use their own
Haggadot, crafted through years of
experience and evolving traditions.
Rabbi Nelson introduced Beth Shalom's
first Haggadah last year, a major job
that took weeks to complete.
"I had a Haggadah my father created
in his congregation and used it for
years. I decided it was time to come up
with my own for my own congrega-
tion," he said. "It was a lot of work but
it is not work I have to do each year."
Besides the hours needed to put on a
community seder, there are a few other
negatives. Take the ticket price, as high
as $42 a plate.
But Rabbi Nelson argues that "the
cost of the seder for the amount of
work that is done is really quite reason-

able. The people who complain are not
the ones who put on the seder by them-
selves the night before. They under-
stand what goes into creating a seder.
"The complainers are the people
who brought a bottle of wine and flow-
ers to the first night's seder."

The following is a list of congrega-
tional seders taking place Saturday;
April 11. Although some will be sold
out, others allow for last-minute
reservations.
* Congregation Beth Shalom, tick-
et prices are $20 for children, $36 for
adult members, $42 for non-mem-
bers. (248) 547-7970.
* Congregation Bet Chaverirn,
(313) 480-8880.
*Temple Beth El, $16 for chil-
dren, $22 for adult members, $29 for
non-members. (248) 851-1100.
*Temple alarm-El, $15 for chil-
dren and $20 for adults, member or
non-member. (248) 967-4020.
*Temple Israel, $18 for children,

But despite the headaches from the
sheer effort and the hair-pulling from
last-minute reservations, the organizers
say it is the most worthwhile undertak-
ing at this time of the year, even more
gratifying than planning their own
seder.
One reason for that feeling is that
organizers feel they are truly performing
a mitzvah. "Some of the people have no
place to go. They don't want to be alone
so they come to our table, the temple's
table," said Liz Walters, one of the orga-
nizers of Temple Israel's seder.
"It gives you a good feeling to know
that there is a place for these people."
For as many reasons as there are
for putting up with the problems of
making a seder for the masses, there
are an equal or greater number for
why those masses come. Widows,
widowers, divorcees and empty-
nesters who have no one to cook for
sit elbow to elbow with worn-out
cooks who outdid themselves at
home the night before.
Families who feel particularly
attached to the temple or synagogue
clergy sit next to students who are
stranded in town, unable to go home
for the holiday.
"I think it is a sense of family and
total community at my congregation,"
said Lois Gerenraich, social action
chairperson at Temple Beth El. "When
you celebrate a holiday, you want to be
with your temple family." ❑

4 CCQ
•

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children 542'("

$31 9
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men

* 'Congregation

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$26.80 adults, $16 ages 7-11
Under; age 7, (248) 619-9669.
* Birmingham Temple, $1
dren of menthers, $18 chili'

non-members, $34 adult nienal
$40 adult non-members. (248) 477

1410.

-

4/10
1998

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