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A Home For The Holiday
Beth Israel's seder hospitality program leaves no one out
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Special to the Jewish News
Ann Arbor
EIC artha Kransdorf of Ann
Arbor and five guests
for her upcoming seder
met recently to discuss
everything from readings to rituals and
menu options. The group decided
details for their cooperative vegetarian
seder designed to accommodate the
needs and traditions of as many partic-
ipants as possible.
"Some people want'
ant grape juice,
some people want wine — you have a
lot of details to go through to make
sure everyone's comfortable,"
Kransdorf said. "It's one woman's son's
birthday and she's going to make a
pesadik cake ... you try to be pretty
inclusive."
Among Kransdorf's guests this year,
and most every year for the last 15,
will be individuals taking part in Beth
Israel Congregation's Seder Project,
which matches congregant hosts and
community members who may not
have family in the area or a seder
attend.
Each year, all of the congregation's
470 membership units are contacted
by phone to see if they are interested
in participating.
A group of about 40 volunteers
started the phone calls after Purim,
asking people if they want to be hosts
or guests and about their specific
needs — do they have children,
dietary preferences, allergies or other
variables, explained Beth Israel admin-
istrator Martha Oleinick.
Approximately 60 people are placed
annually from within the congregation
with new or returning hosts, she said,
in addition to students and calls some-
times coming in up to the last minute
from people wondering if anyone has
an extra spot.
"I take the current printout of our
membership list, divide it up into
groups of 10 to 15 names, and just
send out a letter that instructs the
callers what to ask. They get a script
and the list of names and a form to
record anyone who wants to be a host
or wants to be a guest," she said.
Hosts receive information about
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Elliot Sorkin, Beth Israel Congregation executive director, and Martha Oleinick,
synagogue administrator, discuss matches for the annual seder hospitality program.
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their guests and make the invitation
calls.
"I think it's a wonderful experi-
ence," Kransdorf said. "I think it
enriches the holiday for me and for
other people. We usually have a pretty
pleasant evening — it's a very mean-
ingful way to mark the holiday."
She added that she feels the seder
hospitality program provides an
important service to the community
and that every town should have a way
of making sure that nobody has to be
alone on- Passover.
"I think for most of us, even those
of us who didn't grow up in a very
observant home, Rosh Hashanah and
Passover are holidays that just take on
very special meaning, and we stop the
rest of our lives to get in touch with
the holiday, with the meaning of the
holiday and what it's been for us in
our lives," she said. 'And so if you
don't have immediate family in the
area, and I don't, then it becomes a
wonderful opportunity to share the
holiday with others."
Ann Arborite Craig Bloch, who has
been to people's houses and also had
people over, said the seder hospitality
program builds a sense of community
and allows you to see customs in dif-
ferent families and ways they make the
seder special.
And attending seders in the com-
munity definitely has memorable
moments, he said.
"Last year, the second night, I was
at a wonderful home for a seder where
the kids did the Four Questions with a
karaoke machine complete with thun-
der side effects for God's input," he
said. !I think that's exactly what the
Four Questions are all about, to really
draw the kids in and make them a
part of it and have them learn about
the history of our people."
Sheldon Berry of Ann Arbor signed
up to be a guest for a second seder as
part of Beth Israel's program one year
when his wife Barbara was in Europe.
He said it was people he didn't know
and a different kind of seder, but a lot
of fun. They've signed up ever since.
For at least 10 years, the Berrys
have attended a variety of seders —
vegetarian, traditional, those with chil-
dren or only adults. His wife even
attended a women's seder one year.
"We were at one seder once where
the host had his own Haggadah he
and his brothers had written as
teenagers," Berry said.
Taking part in the program also
offers a chance to meet new people
from the synagogue and around the
community he knows he might cross
paths with again, he said.
"You discover common interests
and that you're both going to the next
concert at Hill Auditorium," he said.
"And when the synagogue has some
sort of event, you see some of the peo-
ple you saw at the seder you wouldn't
have interacted with otherwise, and
you already know them." ❑
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