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Jewish Labor
Committee

hosts its first
Passover seder.

Above: Dave Hecker of Huntington Woods and Norma
Shifrin of Southfield light the candles to begin the seder.

Above right: Katie _nib of Grosse Pointe Park reads from the
Jewish Labor Committee Haggadah.

CelelLcatin
Freed

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Staff Writer

I

ncorporated into this year's Passover prepa-
ration, members of the Jewish Labor
Committee Michigan Region planned a spe-
cial seder to celebrate not only Jewish free-
dom, but also liberations of other types.
"This is really a season of rebirth, a time of
great celebration of freedom for everyone," says
Dave Hecker, JLC national board member and
president of the Michigan Federation of Teachers
and School Related Personnel.
Hecker chaired a March 21 Labor seder along

with Willie Lee Hampton, president of SEIU
Local 79; Selma Goode, director of the Detroit-
based JLC Michigan Region; and Dr. Jeremy
Salinger, president of the Greater Detroit Labor
Zionist Alliance in Oak Park.
"We know there are many others who, at many
points, were oppressed, denied justice — not just
Jewish people — but those of other religions, eth-
nic backgrounds and races as well as women,"
Hecker says.
Utilizing the National JLC Haggadah, a group
of 25 participants, including several metro
Detroit labor leaders, gathered at Congregation
Beth Shalom. "The Haggadah includes the

Dr. Jeremy Salinger of Southfield
and Selma Goode of Redford
enjoy the Labor seder.

Passover story, but also relates it to more updated
times," Hecker says.
Although the seder is the first of its type for
the Michigan chapter, other JLC branches have
been holding them for several years, with nine
cities hosting seders this year. Greeting guests
with the words, "Welcome to our first annual
Labor seder," was evidence that Hecker plans the
seder to become a yearly event.
Guests of the event, which was underwritten
by a grant from the Bloomfield Township-based
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
included Donald Boggs, president of the
Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO; Dave Ivers,
recording corresponding secretary of the
International Union of Operating Engineers; and
Millie Hall, president of the Metro Detroit
Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union
Women.
"People who attended have a real interest in
learning about new things," Hecker says. "We dis-
covered we have far, far, far more similarities than
differences between us. To participate in a seder like
this accentuates the commonalities and ties." ❑

es.

3/29

2002

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