Sisters In Spirit
Links with women of Israel s Central Galilee
enrich the Federation Women's Seder.
DIANA LIEBERMAN
Staff Writer
Passover seder is an occasion for educa-
tion and introspection as well as an
opportunity to sit down with family
and friends for a good meal.
With this in mind, the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit's 2004 Women's Seder pro-
vided nourishment for both mind and body.
About 350 women came to Adat Shalom
Synagogue for the March 24 event; and Harlene
Appleman, who led the seder, presented insightful
and creative explanations for each tradition and
every symbol on the seder table.
About the search for chametz (leavened food)
that precedes the Passover observance, Appleman,
who is Federation's chief education officer, asked,
"What is this obsession with a few grains of
wheat?"
'As we look deep into ourselves," she answered,
"what is it we need to get rid of this springtime?
Take a deep breath, and let all of those things go.
"There's no reason to carry the chametz with
you."
The seder, an annualevent of Federation's
Women's Campaign and Education Department,
was also an opportunity to celebrate the relation-
ship between two sister communities — the
Jewish community of metropolitan
Detroit and the Partnership 2000 region
of Israel's Central Galilee.
As women entered the hall, each was given
a paper flower or peace dove to add to a color-
ful mural made by children in Adat Shalom's
nursery school and kindergarten. The mural will
be sent to Nazareth Illit, a city in the Central
Galilee.
Nearby was a quilt made jointly by Partnership
2000's Women's Exchange, after the Detroit
women's visit to Israel last November.
"We wanted a remembrance of the wonderful
relationship we built and will continue to build
with our Israeli counterparts," the Detroit women
explained in a paragraph describing the quilt. "We
wanted an item which could be sent from Israel to
Detroit and back across the ocean continuously
for family simchas (happy occasions).
In the tradition of maot chittin, guests at the
seder were asked to bring food that is kosher for
Passover or to make donations to Yad Ezra, the
Detroit-area's kosher food bank.
As Appleman said, "We here in Detroit don't
just theorize — we do.
"To allow any Jew to suffer depravation on this
holiday would be to make a travesty out of
Passover." ❑
Below far left: Harlene Appleman, Federation's chief edu-
cation officer, explains why, on this night, we eat only
matzah as the seder's music director Lisa Soble Siegmann,
director of Jewish Experiences for Families, looks on.
Below center: Elana Balkin of West Bloomfield and Kari
Levin, Congregation Shaarey Zedek's Jewish family edu-
cator, admire the quilt made jointly by the American and
Israeli members of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Women's Exchange.
Below far right: Before the seder begins, Lisa Grodman of
Commerce Township pins a dove on the international
peace mural.
Staff photos by Diana Lieberman
For more photos, see
www.detroitjewishnews.com
•
4/ 2
2004
85