Life!

The Women's Campaign and Education Department
of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
is proud to announce its
2006-2007 SLATE OF OFFICERS and BOARD MEMBERS
who will be installed at the 60th Annual Meeting

INTERFAITH

President

Susie Pappas

Campaign Vice President

Susie Citrin

A Kiwi On The
Seder Plate

Education Vice Presidents

Joan Chernoff Epstein Lori Garon Amy Schlussel Leah Trosch

Corresponding Secretary

Cookie Gonik

Recording Secretary

Mindy Soble

Designates to Federation's Board of Governors

Ann Arbor

Abbe Binder Sherbin

Nancy Glass Kanat

L

Board of Directors

One Year Term

Hilary Isakow

2nd Three Year Term

1st Three Year Term

Jodi Goodman
Gina Horwitz
Lilly Jacobson
Jodie Krasnick
Lisa Lis

Debbie Balkin
Patti Baum
Kathy Wilson Fink
Heidi Fischgrund
Barbra Giles

Deena Lockman
Fran Newman
Julie Sosin
Sue Terebelo

Fran Hack
Roberta Madorsky
Anita Naftaly
Phyllis Subar
Judy Verona

New Advisory Service Council (first three year term)

Marta Rosenthal

Re nominated for a three year term to Advisory Service Council

-

-

Doris August
Joyce Blum
Paulette Bonin
Ruth Broder
Barbara Cook
Fayga Dombey

Bernice Gershenson
Fran Gold
Micki Grossman
Susie Jacob
Sybil Jones
Marian Kantor

Linda Lee
Terran Leemis
Sue Marwil
Beverly Peterman
Roz Schiff
Joyce Sherman

Evelyn Silverman
Barbara Tukel
Jeannie Weiner
Beryl Winkelman
Linda Zlotoff

Nominating Committee Chair

Nancy Grosfeld

Members

Sue Curhan Joan Chernoff Epstein Sally Krugel Cheryl Margolis

Gail Mayer Abbe Binder Sherbin

Ex Officio

-

Paula Glazier

In accordance with the Federation's Women's Campaign and Education Department Bylaws,
Article VII, Section I: "The call to the Annual Meeting shall include the slate to be presented for
election. Additional nominations may be made by petition, signed by twenty-five(25) members of
the Women's Campaign and Education Department and submitted at least one (1) week in advance
of the Annual Meeting, provided that such nominees have consented to serve if elected."

In accordance with Article X, the Women's Department shall present revised Bylaws for approval
provided such an amendment has been made a matter of public notice to the membership at
least 30 clays previously. Copies of the revised Bylwas are available upon request to Federation's
Women's Department.

The Women's Campaign and Education Department's Annual Meeting will be held on
Thursday, May 18, 2006, at 10:00 am at the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building of the Jewish
Community Center, located on the Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus in West
Bloomfield. If you would like to attend, please call the Women's Campaign and Education
Department at: (248) 642-4260, ext. 181.

This is Federation

Visit us online: www.thisisfederation.org

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April 6 • 2006

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43183 Woodward Ave @ Square Lake

ast year, I ran our
family's Passover
seder. What's the
big deal? It's traditional for
the father of a Jewish fam-
ily to lead the service. The
problem is, I'm not Jewish.
Every year, our fam-
ily travels to Boston to
be with my in-laws for
Passover. Last year, however, circum-
stances changed our plans, and my
in-laws flew to Michigan. My wife,
Bonnie, our two daughters and I had
the first seder in our house, ever. We
were sad that we had to miss being
with Bonnie's aunt, uncle and cousins.
. Yet, at the same time, it was exciting
to make our home kosher and prepare
the meal. We bought boxes of matzah,
we made charoset, we cut up chunks
of horseradish and we got rid of any
non-kosher, leavened food in the
cupboards. Our house was ready for
Passover.
While we were making prepara-
tions and deciding who was to pick up
our friend Esther, the subject of who
would lead the dinner arose. I natu-
rally assumed that Bonnie would. She
is the Jewish head of our house. If she
wanted to defer to her dad, then that
was okay, too. When the two of them
suggested that I lead the seder, my jaw
dropped and nearly fell into a bowl of
salt water. It was a scary thought to
me. What if I mess up? What if I sing
"Chad Gadya" to the tune of "Dayenu"?
What if I don't do it right and Moses
can't part the Red Sea this time? "Isn't
there someone a little more qualified?"
I asked.
"Jim, how many of these seders
have you participated in?" Bonnie
replied rhetorically. "We've been
together for 19 years — and there are
two seders every Passover."
She was right. I knew this holiday
backwards and forwards. The more I
thought about it, leading the service
was an honor and a big step for me in
helping to raise our Jewish daughters.
I could imagine no better way to help
them understand that, even though I
am Protestant, I can take a major role
in teaching them about their holiday.
So I picked up Esther and brought
her back to our home for our seder.

I recited the blessings in
Hebrew (I think I pro-
nounced most of the words
correctly); I had people
take turns reading from
the Haggadah; I helped
explain the story to my
daughters and asked them
questions; I sang along to
the songs in Hebrew (most
of the time in tune); and I
read how Moses led "our"
people out of Egypt. As I read that
last sentence, I thought, "Now this is a
sight you don't see every day"
If some people put an orange on the
plate to represent marginalized Jews, I
wonder what they put on the plate for
a non-Jew? A tomato? Yuck. A peanut-
butter sandwich? Too many people
with allergies. A shrimp cocktail? Not
kosher. How about a kiwi? It's not
offensive, it's kosher and it's deliciou s . .

A Success!

Fortunately, before I lost my place,
my brain snapped into focus just as
Pharaoh changed his mind about let-
ting his slaves go. I adeptly stepped
back into the Haggadah and got the
ancient Hebrews across the Red Sea
to safety. Moses' sister, Miriam, shook
her timbral and we all burst into sons.
I had done it. I had led the seder, soup
to nuts.
It was a meaningful service cel-
ebrating freedom. We all enjoyed the
story, the food and the company of
family and friends.
Later that evening, I dropped Esther
off at her apartment. As I started the
drive back to our interfaith house, I
began thinking about the evening's
event. Driving alone always gives me
time to think. No need for the radio
tonight — I kept singing "Dayenu" at
the top of my lungs.
How strange our seder must seem
in the eyes of the Jewish community.
I even felt a little sheepish about tak-
ing the lead in one of their greatest
holidays. Then I remembered that
the intermarriage rate among Jews is
nearly 50 percent. I bet that there had
been many scenes like this around the
country. I'm not sure of the signifi-
cance of this. But, I do think that any-
thing that helps make Judaism a posi-
tive experience for two young Jewish
girls can't be all that bad — even if

