The Horwitz Family Takes Art To
Heart
Helping your child cope with a low
grade on a history test, directing him
on the right path in life, trying to
understand your daughter's trigonome-
try homework — outstanding chal-
lenges all, but they don't begin to corn-
pare with one of the greatest struggles
parents today must face: What to do
with all those art projects your children
bring home from school?
At last count, the collected art proj-
ects of children throughout the world
numbered 895.5 billion.
Susie Horwitz, for one, knows exact-
ly what to do with her children's
Passover art: save every bit of it and
then display and enjoy it on the holi-
day.
Susie and her husband, Dennis, of
Farmington Hills, are the parents of
Amanda 12, and Eric, 10. Susie has
saved all her children's Pesach art proj-
ects since their preschool days.
At the holiday, "we take it all out,"
and much of it goes directly on the
table.
Far from being mortified that their
mother has saved all their creations
(which, when not in use, Susie stores
"in my dining-room cupboard, where I
keep my good dishes"), Eric and
Amanda love it.
The only debate: Whose seder plate

inspired, in part, by
Marc Chagall when
making the illustra-
tions for this book.
Like Chagall's
paintings, Chwast's
pictures are color-
ful and a bit nos-
talgic, but they
clearly have their
own identity. Chwast is a
wonderful artist, and•children will
enjoy looking at these pictures time
and again, especially as they sing the
"Had Gadya" song.

Shlemiel Crooks ($15.95), by Anna
Olswanger, with illustrations by Paula
Goodman Koz, is published by
NewSouth books (www.newsouth-
books.com ). It is so fun, and so won-
derfully illustrated, it's absolutely irre-
sistible.
First, Shlemiel Crooks is not written
like any other children's book you've

to use? Whose Kiddush cup to fill?
Whose matzah cover will make it to the
table this year?
Fortunately, there are two seders, and
two children, so "we just switch off,"
Horwitz says.
Susie Horwitz, who grew up in
Southfield, followed in her father's cre-
ative footsteps. Manny Cutler was a
pharmacist who painted and made
stained glass, including an entire
stained-glass chair, in his spare time. "I
still have many of the things he made,"
his daughter says.
Her mother was a great cook, who
made memorable Pesach dishes, espe-
cially chopped liver. "It was out of this
world," Susie says.
"When I was little I loved art,"
Susie says, and to this day she contin-
ues to take art classes from time to
time, including one at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek, where she and
Amanda made Shabbat candlesticks
and a matzah cover.
Amanda and Eric began their
own artistic careers at Adat
Shalom Synagogue, where Susie
teaches nursery school. The chil-
dren continued making art at
Sunday and Hebrew school at Shaarey
Zedek, where the family belongs today.
As Pesach begins, the Horwitz family

PASSOVER on page 46

ever read. As
you read, it's
more like you're
in the middle of
a conversation,
and you're being
talked to by your
grandmother, or
your grandfather,
or someone who
doesn't know from
Britney Spears:

Hoo-ha! Mrs.
Moskowitz, who lived
with her little boy next
door to Mankel, started
screaming like the bed-
bugs were eating her
alive. Let me tell you, a voice like a
canary she didn't have.
The story itself — about a couple of
clumsy crooks, a wine shop and a lot
of loud neighbors — is amazingly
clever and based on a real incident.
The author's great grandparents, Elias
and Dora Olschwanger, remained
largely unknown to Anna. She didn't
even know their names until 1982,
when she began researching her family
tree. That's when Anna discovered that
her great-grandfather had owned a

Cosby
Amanda, Susue and Eric
Horwitz: Art to heart.

wine store, and that once it had been
almost robbed by two extremely inept
crooks.
Don't miss it.

A Few Good Web Sites:
Thousands of Pesach Web sites are out
there, but only a handful are really
worth your time. Want to avoid the
sites just out to sell you something,
and those you click on only to discover
"Server Not Found"? Take a look at
the following spots:
www.billybear4kids.com/holidays
/pesach — Lots of fun for tiny and
older children here. The younger set
will like the games, such as "Help
Moses Find the 10 Commandments"
and "Find Your Way to the 10 Pieces
of Chametz." Bigger kids will have fun
with the Chametz Game and 10
Plagues Quiz.
www.chabad.org/holidays/passover —
If you're looking for basic, but compre-
hensive, material about Pesach, this is
the place. There's everything from
recipes to games for children, a glos-
sary of terms and information on how
to get rid of chametz. This site also
will guide you to finding a seder any-
where in the world and can help you

sell your chametz.
www.marlo.com/heb/pass/passover.htm
— Want to send your friends and
neighbors free e-cards? You'll find some
very nice ones here, both animated
and flash, with changeable greetings.
www.lea arn.jtsa.edu/topics/kids/pesah_
together/ — This very good site comes
to you from the Conservative move-
ment's Melton Research Center for
Jewish Education. It features a Pesach
kit in Spanish and English that will
take you through a complete seder
(there are even questions your family
will enjoy discussing). You can also
hear audio recordings of all prayers in
the kit, which can be downloaded for
free.
www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/passove
r — Looking for cool holiday games
for children? Then check out the word
search puzzles and mazes on this site.
This is mostly for younger boys and
girls (especially the mazes), though the
site is nice enough to list games from
easiest to most challenging, which
makes it very user friendly. Children
up to about age 12 will enjoy the word
searches.

tIN

4/21

2005

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