Age Old Story

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Staff Writer

Marissa, Jeremy, Frew; Mindy and Andrea Shuback show
what it will be like at their seder on Wednesday night.

through talk,
of plagues.

or anyone who thinks the
pages of the Haggada just relay
the same old story — maybe
it's not the tale but the way it's
being told.
The mere reading of the words can lead
to bored children, teens counting the pages
until dinner and few getting the full mean-
ing of the experience of the seder.
"It is the interaction of friends and fam-
ily reinforcing that we have been chosen
that makes the seder the most powerful
meeting of family we will have all year
long," says Rabbi Chaim Bergstein of Bais
Chabad of Farmington Hills.
In many homes, the seder
is making a transition from
the traditional to the con-
temporary by adding discus-
sions, personal meaning and
new traditions.
In the West Bloomfield
home of Mindy and Fred
Shuback, each year's seder is
different.
"Fred always buys a new
Haggada to search for some-
thing new and interesting to
add to the seder," Mindy
Shuback says. This year will
mark the third seder held in
their home, a tradition
passed down from their par-
ents, who, at their age, now
find the preparation diffi-
cult. "We have taken over. It is now our
responsibility to make new traditions."
With no other family living here, the
Shubacks include their out-of-town par-
ents along with friends at their yearly
gatherings. "I was brought up with 20 or
25 people at the table," so to have a seder
with just her immediate family would be
"really strange," Mindy says.
As a child, her family seders included
reading every single word of the Haggada,
but now "I like our new tradition of some-
times picking and choosing what we say,"
she says. The Shubacks also make a point

TRADMONS on page 11

Made-To-Order

Seders

Local organizations
put their own spin
on tradition.

DIANA LIEBERMAN
Staff Writer

O

ne of the four questions at this
year's Detroit Women's Forum

Gary Kelly of Detroit participates
at the multicultural youth seder
held Apir1 9 at Temple Israel.

seder asks, "Why have our mothers
on this night been bitter?"
The answer: "Because they did the
preparations, but not the ritual."
"Because they did the serving, but
not the conducting."
"Because they read of their fathers,
but not their mothers,"
This seder, in its 25th year, exem-
plifies how Passover, perhaps more
than any other Jewish holiday, has

SEDERS on page 13

Shelli Liebman Dorfman can be
reached at (248) 354-6060,
ext. 246, or by e-mail at
sdorfnzan@thejewishnews.com

4/14
2000

7

