Spirituality

Room For All At The Table

Many shuls, campus groups welcome public at seders.

• Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy:
The April 9 seder at is at capacity
• Grosse Pointe Jewish Council:
Thursday, April 9. For reservations, time
and additional information, call (313)
882-6700 or send an e-mail to
karenao@comcast.net .
• Michigan State University's
Lester & Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish
Student Center in East Lansing: 7 p.m.
Wednesday and 7 p.m. Thursday, April
9. No charge for students; $20 for com-
munity members. For reservations, call
(517) 332-1916 or e-mail operations@

A table set for members of a 2007 Chabad seder in Puerto Rico

Shelli Liebman Dorfman

Senior Writer

L

ocal synagogues of many
denominations as well as campus
Hillel organizations are offering
Passover seders open to the community.
Among them, Chabad Torah Centers
and synagogues in Michigan will host
seders as part of a 5,000-seder world-
wide "I Will Attend a Passover Seder:
Jewish families unite globally" project.
Community seders — which will be
held one or two nights, depending on
the location — will take place at the
Chabad House in Ann Arbor, the Shul
in West Bloomfield and in Lansing,
through the Chabad House of Western
Michigan. Arrangements can also be
made for those needing a seder on a
night when there is no community meal.
In past years, Levi Stein of the Shul,
has led Passover seders in several
countries. "I think it's amazing that
wherever you go you can find a seder
with Chabad," he said. "This year, I will
be in Thailand, where we are expecting
over 1,500 guests. Most of them will be
tourists coming from Israel and other

For information on Chabad seders
worldwide, access the Web site:
chabad.org/holidays/passover/sed-
ers.htm . For local reservations,
call the Shul, (248) 788-4000;
Chabad of Ann Arbor, (734) 995-
3276 or Chabad House of Western
Michigan in Lansing, (616) 957-0770.
Reservations required; donations are
encouraged.

A34

April 2 2009

countries, but they all know they will
have a seder with Chabad and will feel
like home."
Two years ago, Stein was in Puerto Rico
for Passover at seders attended by 300
guests. "We held the first seder in a hotel
and the second one outside in a tent':
he said. "A few students walked by and
noticed the seder and asked me if it was
Passover. When I said yes, they joined
us. They turned out to be a Jewish group
from Boston who went home and con-
nected with their local Chabad House.
I'm still in touch with them."

An Array Of Local Seders
Many area synagogues offer Passover
seders and seder-night celebrations. A
sampling of area community seders is
listed below. For others, call individual
synagogues.
• Birmingham Temple in Farmington
Hills: 5:30 p.m., Thursday, April 9, potluck
Passover celebration. For information on
potluck items and reservations, contact
(248) 477-1410 or e-mail:
info@birminghamtemple.org. $15/adults;
$10/children.
• Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak
Park: 5:30 p.m. Minchah and Maariv
services precede a Thursday, April 9,
seder. $50/adult members; $55/adult
non-member; $25/children ages 3-12.
For reservations, (248) 547-7970.
• Congregation Bet Chaverim in
Canton: A 6-9:30 p.m., Wednesday,
April 8, seder will be held at Hanford
Clubhouse, 45800 Hanford Road,
Canton. For reservations, call Roberta
Malkowski, (248) 231-6280, or send an
e-mail to robma12001@yahoo.com .

• Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township: 6 p.m. Thursday, April 9.
Reservations required. Call (248) 865-
0617. $30/adult members; $37/adult
non-members; children younger than
12: members $23; non-members $24.
• Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor: 6
p.m. Thursday, April 9; $18/adults and
children older than age 11; $12/children
ages 4-10; no charge for children young-
er than 3 who share with an adult. For
reservations, call (734) 665-4744.
• Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park: 6:30
p.m.-8 p.m., Thursday, April 9. For res-
ervations, call (248) 967-4020.
• Temple Israel in West Bloomfield: 6
p.m., Thursday, April 9.
Participants need to bring the Family
Haggadah: A Seder for All Generations,
or purchase one at the synagogue for $6.
For reservations, call Sandi Stocker at
(248) 248-661-5700 or send an e-mail to
sandi@temple-israel.org .
• Temple Shir Shalom in West
Bloomfield: 6 p.m., Thursday, April 9.
For reservations, call (248) 737-8700.
$36/adult; $18/children ages 5-12; no
charge for children younger than 5. Shir
Shalom will make a 3 percent donation
from all proceeds raised to Mazon: a
Jewish Response to Hunger. Haggadot
will be provided.
• University of Michigan Hillel in Ann
Arbor: Wednesday, April 8, Hillel will host
three seders: an informal seder, interac-
tive seder and traditional seder, all begin-
ning at 8:50 p.m. On Thursday, April 9,
two seders will be held: "A Seder Around
the World" at 8:50 p.m. and an informal,
interactive seder at 6 p.m. Cost of each
is $20. Students interested in attending a
U-M seder or those wishing to attend a
seder at the home of a community mem-
ber should call (734) 769-0500. Kosher
for Passover meals will also be available
at U-M Hillel during the holiday.

Nutrition
Seder

Theme to focus
on child hunger.

"All who are hungry, come and eat; all
who are in need, come and partake in
the Paschal offering."

Pa.uotxr Haggadah

U S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-
Bloomfield Hills, will par-
ticipate in a Child Nutrition
Seder, a foodless educational program
hosted by the Jewish Community
Relations Council of Metropolitan
Detroit and Yad Ezra, the community's
only kosher food pantry. The free event
will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, April 13,
in Yad Ezra's Berkley warehouse.
Jewish and non-Jewish teens are
especially encouraged to attend.
Each year, 36 million people in the
U.S. do not get enough to eat. Each
morning, 12 million children go to
school hungry. The Child Nutrition
Seder is designed to express the Jewish
community's support for re-authoriza-
tion of the Child Nutrition Act, aimed
at reducing childhood hunger by pro-
viding nutritious food to low-income
children.
Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek of Oakland County
will lead the seder on the fifth day of
Passover. The program will inform
participants about the realities of
child hunger through the teachings of
Passover. No food will be served.
The Passover Haggadah begins by
beckoning "All who are hungry, come
and eat. All who are in need, come and
partake in the Paschal offering." Passover,
a festival of freedom that recounts the
deliverance of Jews from slavery in
ancient Egypt, provides the framework
to discuss child poverty in Michigan and
across the country. The Child Nutrition
Seder is part of the Jewish Council for
Public Affairs.
Reservations are required. For more
information about the Child Nutrition
Seder, contact the JCRC at (248) 642-
5393. 1-11