A Perfectly
Pleasurable
Passover

If "Pesach fun" sounds like an oxymoron,

learn how to make the holiday happy

again with hints from local families.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

AppleTree Editor

T

he theme to Jaws could be just
the thing if you're looking for
some background music for the
weeks approaching Pesach (Passover).
That pulsating, repetitive, fearsome
handful of notes lets you know that
something scary — like a lot of cleaning
and planning, and spending your entire
life savings' on largely inedible food —
is just around the corner.
If Passover makes you want to scream
in utter terror, it may be time to stop
and smell the charoset. Here, four fami-
lies tell why the holiday isn't
just work, it's FUN.

the froggies and some bugs next to every-
one's plate."
Frogs were, of course, necessary, as
were vermin, all part of the Ten Plagues.
Subia decided to send the guests a
make-your-own bead frog-or-bug kit,
which she purchased at a craft store.
Everyone brought his or her creation to
the seder table.
Because the event was so memorable,
everyone wanted a souvenir, so all the
guests took the bugs and frogs home.
Then there was the Red Sea. Okay,
bringing an entire sea would be have
been a bit much, even for this realistic
depiction. So Subia had a big bowl of
water and everyone jumped
over it. The bowl was
accompanied by lovely
drawings, made by her chil-
dren, Julianne, 8-1/2, and
Sam, 10.
"The kids go to Hillel
[Day School of Metropolitan Detroit],
so they bring a lot of props home,"
Subia explained.
There also was charoset, of course, but
it wasn't just plopped on the plate.
Instead, Subia made hers in the shape of
a pyramid, an idea suit:ested by friend
and neighbor Sarah Hartman-Silow.
The Ten Plagues not only were
accompanied by awesome objects at this
home, they were acted out as well. For
darkness, each guest was asked to place a
black scarf over his or her eyes.
Finally, there was the sand — and
plenty of it — in mounds across the
table (very easy cleanup if you simply

CO VER
ST ORY

The Subia Family Brings
Egypt To Michigan
Some hostesses like to give a
little parting gift to guests — a
lovely notepad of paper, perhaps, or
some flowers, or cookies.
Alice and Michael Subia gave their
seder guests vermin and frogs. Which is
exactly what the guests wanted.
It all began when Alice Subia of
Huntington Woods noticed a "seder kit"
for sale. She bought it, but the contents
were pretty slim. What Subia wanted
was the entire Pesach adventure, right
there on her dining-room table.
"I decided to make the whole story in
front of everyone," she says. The "seder
kit" had a few examples of the plagues.
"But I wasn't going to put just a few lit-

remember to put a plastic tablecloth
down beforehand, Subia advises).
It was all a minimal amount of work,
Subia promises, but with a huge impact.
Her children, and guests, adored the
evening, and continue to talk about it to
this day.
Another idea Subia recommends:
stickers. When she was invited to a
friend's house for Pesach, the table was
laden with stickers that corresponded to
various parts of the seder. When it came
to the Four Sons, for example, a child
could affix the appropriate sticker to
each son. The Ten Plagues included
frog, hail and lightning stickers.

The Subia family brought Egypt
to Michigan.

"The kids really enjoyed it," she says.
"There was a lot of, Van you pass me
the stickers with the bugs now?"' across
the table.

The Movsas Family Have Their Cake
and Love It, Too
All that cleaning, all that work, and
this year, all that travel. It's all worth it if
it means getting a piece of their grand-

PASSOVER on page 44

4/21

2005

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