Family Focus

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p r FILA 111

Matzah Factory shines in pre-holiday festivities.

Passover offers plenty of fun
and educational activities
for the whole family to enjoy.
This year's festivities begin
with the first seder on the
evening of Wednesday, April
9, and continue until sun-
down on Thursday, April 15.
Although children play
an important role in every
Jewish holiday, this is espe-
cially true during Passover,
which actually requires that
the kids partake by asking
the Four Questions during
the seder. Make it fun, not
intimidating, by allowing
the older kids to coach the
younger ones. Let them
know you expect participa-
tion, not perfection.
• Enlist help from every-
one in the family during the
weeks and days before the
holiday, when we remove all
traces of chametz, or leav-
ened foods, from our homes.
Changing over the kitchen
is less time-consuming and
more fun when it's a group
effort. Turn the traditional
chametz search into a trea-
sure hunt, with clues and
prizes. Offer a reward to the
person who retrieves the
most chametz or who finds it
in the most unusual location.
Don't forget to look under
the seat cushions of the
sofa, in the bottoms of their
backpacks and in the laundry
basket .
• The Passover holiday
is rich in meaning on many
levels. The symbols we use
at the seder table represent
several different
themes: the bit-
terness of slav-
ery, the joys
and respon-
sibilities of
freedom, the
miracle of
the Red Sea,
the coming of °".,;,
spring and the

cycle of life. Use the story of
the Exodus from Egypt as a
springboard for a family dis-
cussion. Invite each person
to talk about what freedom
means, how it applies to our
lives and to the situation in
the world today. Have a joy-
ous and meaningful holiday!

BLESSING OF
THE SUN

The 28-year phenom-
enon of Birkat
Hachamah, the
Blessing of the
Sun, is a day
when the sun
returns to the
exact position,
at the same
time of the week
that it occurred on
the fourth day of cre-
ation — at the moment of the
spring equinox. It takes place
on Tuesday, April 8. It's cus-
tomary for large groups of
men, women and children to
gather in a place where the
sun is visible and give thanks
to God for bringing sunlight
to the world. For information
on local Birkat Hachamah
events, contact your local
Chabad organization (find it
at www.chabad.org ) or call
the Shul in West Bloomfield
at (248) 788-4000.

US •

Cultural Commission, admis-
sion is $15 per person or
$30 per family, $12 and $25
if prepaid by March 19. Call
the Beth Shalom office at
(248) 547-7970.

MATZAH MAKERS

Passover wouldn't be
complete without a trip to
Shalom Street's Barbara
and Douglas Bloom Matzah
Factory, where you
can grind the
flour, mix the
dough and
create a
Passover
project while
your matzah
bakes. An
annual tradition,
the factory is open
every day starting
Sunday, March 22, through
Sunday, March 29, at the
Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield.
Join Team YAD for Pesach
Productions at 1 p.m. Sunday,
March 29, for an afternoon
of fun activities based on
television game shows such
as "The Iron Chef Charoset
Competition," "The Amazing
Race Scavenger Hunt,"
"Passover On Demand" and
more.
Go to www.jewishdetroit.
org for hours and informa-
tion. In search, type "matzah
factory."

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DON DANCING SHOES

Celebrate the first day of
spring with an evening of
Israeli folk dancing, food and
board games from 5-7:30
p.m. Sunday, March 22, at
Congregation Beth
Shalom in Oak
Park. Sponsored
by Ameinu
Detroit and the
Congregation
Beth Shalom

Local kids dance

at a 2008 Israel

festival.

'ANNIE' AND
FRIENDS

Leave your umbrella at home
and spend an evening with
the world's most lovable
orphan and her friends in the
Orchard Lake Middle School
production of Annie. Daddy
Warbucks, Miss Hannigan
and the rest of the gang
will be performing at 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 26, and
Friday, March 27, at West
Bloomfield High School,

4925 Orchard Lake Road.
All seats $10. Contact (248)
865-4480 or Zazaian
westbloomfield.k12.mi.us for
tickets or information.

MANNA TO
MATZAH BALLS

Discover the joys of Jewish
comfort foods (is there
any other kind?) at this
unique interactive exhibit at
Shalom Street in the Jewish
Community Center in West
Bloomfield. Bring the whole
family to swim in a cholent
pool, take a nap on the
corned beef couch, make
an original craft project and
sample the delicious Jewish
foods. Open from 1-5 p.m.
through Aug. 16, Sunday-
Thursday. $5 per person, $18
per family. 1-877-SHALOM3
or www.shalomstreet.org .

DINING OUT DEALS

Going out for dinner can be
a welcome treat, especially
when we're busy preparing
for Passover. If the economic
pinch has kept your fam-
ily from dining out as often
as you'd like, visit www.
restaurant.com . This Web
site provides an easy way to
purchase and print out gift
certificates for thousands
of local restaurants, in all
price ranges, from upscale
to casual. Follow the simple
instructions to buy $25 gift
certificates for $10 each,
or $50 certificates for $20.
Take advantage of the res-
taurant coupons found in
the Jewish News and other
places, and ask your favorite
restaurants if they have any
unadvertised specials, such
as kids-eat-free nights.

If you have items or suggestions

for this column, please send them

to Ronelle Grier at ronelleg ,:i•aol.

com, along with your name and

contact information.

Focus On Judiasm
On Friday and Saturday, March
27-28, Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington hills will welcome
Rabbi Irwin Kula, a provocative
religious leader and respected
spiritual iconoclast.
The host of Simple
Wisdom, Rabbi Kula is
the author of Yearnings:
Embracing the Sacred
Messiness of Life.
On Friday eve-
ning, Rabbi Kula will
discuss "Judaism
Rabbi Kula
Beyond the Tribe: It's
About the Wisdom."
Following Kiddush the
next morning, he will speak on
"Embracing the Sacred Messiness
in Families."
Friday evening will begin at 5:30
p.m. with Shabbat Shaboom for
preschool families and a Limud
Shabbat service. A "Shabbat Rocks"
Kabbalat Shabbat service will begin
at 6 p.m., along with a fourth-grade
service and a teen service. A Friday-
evening Shabbat buffet dinner is
planned for 7:15 p.m. Following
dinner, Rabbi Kula will speak on
"Judaism Beyond the Tribe: It's
About the Wisdom?"
Childcare will begin at 6:30 p.m.
and extend until the end of the
adult program. At S p.m., children
will enjoy puppeteer Vicki Gasko.
Rabbi Aaron Bergman will
conduct a Talmud study session
at 8:30 a.m. on Shabbat morn-
ing tided "The Passover Seder as
a Model of Modern Education?'
Traditional services will begin at
9 a.m. A Neshama will begin at 10
a.m. Beginning at 10:15 a.m. there
will be dropoff youth services.
Also at 10:15, Jewish educator
Ruth Bergman will hold a session
titled "Lions and Tigers and Frogs?
Oh My! An Explanation of the 10
Plagues?' Following morning servic-
es and an enhanced Kiddush, Rabbi
Kula will discuss "Embracing the
Sacred Messiness in Families:'
SYNergy co-chairs are Carol
Weintraub Fogel of West Bloomfield
and Phyllis Pilcowitz of Bloomfield
Hills.
The community is welcome to all
of the services and programs at no
charge, with the exception of the
Shabbat dinner for which there is
a charge. Dinner reservations are
required by Friday, March 20. Call
the Adat Shalom Synagogue office,
(248) 851-5100, for information.

March 19 • 2009

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