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FEST. $61 June 14 Gambling & Show CALL FOR ADDITIONAL TRIPS, FLYERS AND 1 DAY TRIPS! 4/14 2000 134 All rates P.P. Dbl. except where noted. BERKLEY TOURS AND TRAVEL 248-865-8890 • 1-800-875-8687 Seder House Rules Two families have unique Passover traditions. LISA BARSON Special to the Jewish News Tvvet, R esearch, readings and role- playing are what Joshua Lerner, 33, of Huntington Woods, does before Passover. The Lerner family seder, as always, will begin next Wednesday with a video created by Lerner's father, Leonard. The video, which opens with an enlarged picture of the cover of the family Haggadah, recounts major events that happened in the family during the past year, complete with interviews. When it ends, Leonard welcomes the guests. Attendance ranges from 15 to 25 people. Lerner's sisters and their fami- lies always fly home for the holiday. "My parents have always made a real effort to make our seders special," says Lerner. "I've been to other seders and it's never been as much fun. "Each year, my parents select a dif- ferent theme or subject, and we are all required to research our assigned sec- tions and be prepared to discuss them at the table," explains Lerner. One year, the family role-played the exodus out of Egypt, another year they were all asked to bring a different Haggada so the family could discuss the differences in the writings. Once, guests were assigned one of the 10 plagues to research. As the plagues were recited, each person discussed how that plague affected the Egyptians and Israelites, and spoke about a current "plague." The Lerners' annual topics generally alternate between the scholarly and those with family connections. "One of the most memorable seders for me was the year we were all asked to bring our own kiddush cup," says Lerner. "Everyone went around the table and told the story of when and where they received their cup. It was very emotional." The subject at the Lerner seder this year is "Motherhood: Passover stories through the eyes of [Moses' sister] Miriam." American Heart AssociationAr Rotidng Heart Disease and Stroke Medical miracles start with research The Scene The entertainment doesn't end when the books close. Lerner's brother-in-law brings out his mandolin, his aunt sits down at the piano, his cousin gets his bass and the music begins. "We rill it our musical interlude. We begin with the traditional Passover music, but we usually digress into show tunes and Al Jolson," he says. The music lasts into the night. "It's a special tradition which began eight years ago with my brother- in-law -- he brought music into our family." Four-year-old niece Allegra now gets fiddle accompaniment when she recites the Four Questions. Sara Bernstein's nuclear family embraces another tradition. The Torah directs Jews to welcome the stranger on Passover, to "let all who are hungry come and eat." The Bernsteins invites foreign exchange students and their host families to join their family's Passover seders. Bernstein, 32, of Farmington Hills, was raised in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood, Ohio. Her family was very involved in the American Field Service, an organization devoted to facilitating student and teacher exchanges around the world. The family has hosted two foreign exchange students for a full year apiece: one from Italy and another from Japan. "My parents began having these guests at our seders when I was 7 years old," says Bernstein. Most of the students had never heard of Passover, much less attended a seder. The Bernstein seder was always participa- tory. "The students' command of English was usually pretty good by April, but even we would all be trip- ping over our tongues by the time we got to (the song) 'Who Knows One,'" she remembers. The Bernsteins always let their for- eign guests find the afikomen (middle matza). "Part of the holiday shopping would include buying the latest cassette tape of a popular band to give as a prize for finding the afikomen," she laughs. The foreign guests came to the Bernsteins with their host families, a first seder for some of them, too. Married with a 1-year-old son, Bernstein now goes to her aunt's house at Passover. In the future, she and her husband Gary Kravitz hope to host their own seders, inviting foreign guests and those unfamiliar with the holiday. "I explain to people I work with and my non-Jewish friends what the holiday is all about," she says, "but they really understand when they experience it firsthand." ❑