THE GEM & CENTURY THEATRES

SEDERS

from page 13

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Parsley and salt water are
on the seder table.

EASTER

SPECIAL!

Among the celebrants at
the Federation-hosted
Women's Seder
was guitarist Janis
Braun-Levine.

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Held at Temple Israel, the event
was organized by the Anti-
Defamation League/Michigan Region,
the Youth Federation of Temple Israel
(YFTI) and the Jewish Community
Council of Metropolitan Detroit.
Celebrating the holiday with
ADL's Dream Dialogue members and
the Temple youth, were the Council's
Youth Ambassadors. They are Detroit
Public School students who visited
Israel in an exchange program last
fall.
"It was a great experience," said
YFTI president Katie Feldman of
Farmington Hills about the seder.
"We brought in readings that are not
necessarily Jewish. The idea is to
share our traditions with them and
also to show what we have in com-
mon.
Temple Israel Rabbi Joshua
Bennett, YFTI adviser, said the shar-
ing of cultures is an important step
toward creating understanding
between communities.
"Passover is the holiday when we cel-
ebrate our freedom from slavery," he
said. "We are mandated to feel as if we
ourselves had escaped from the land of
Egypt. So it's especially appropriate on
this holiday to see ourselves - in the
plight of others, to develop empathy."

Before he heads home to his own
family seder Wednesday night, Ron
Elkus of Huntington Woods will con-
duct a seder at an independent resi-
dence run by JARC, the Jewish
Association for Residential Care.
JARC will host five seders this year,
each in a group residence. The chal-
lenge is to make the seder accessible to
the agency's clients with learning dis-
abilities; the language must be appro-
priate for adults and not talk down to
them as if they were children.
"I've loved doing it," said Elkus,
who has led JARC seders since 1994.
"I can be creative, talk about how the
story of Passover addresses the things
that plague us today — racism, sex-
ism. People at the table give their own
experiences of being accepted or dis-
criminated against."
A JARC seder is not very long,
Elkus said, but it packs a lot of punch.
"Sometimes, you can read and read
and read, and it doesn't mean a whole
lot," he said. "If you personalize
things in it, make them real for the
people you're speaking to, it comes
out a lot better.
"What's great about it is the people
are so uninhibited. They are some of
the most sincere, most honest people
around."

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