TORAH PORTION

Pesach All Around

JCC event shows kids holiday fun.

Shabbat Hagadol (Parashat Tzav):
Leviticus 6:1-8:36; Malachi 3:4-24.

Elizabeth Applebaum

Special to the Jewish News

I

We Give Thanks
For Our Blessings

t isn't every event where a

little kid can build a pyra-
mid, cook up a new dish
using dried guava, applesauce
and cherries and go home with
a tube of vermin. (OK, the "ver-
min" were just plastic beads,
but does life get any better than
being 6 years old and telling
mom you're supposed to bring
home bugs?)
On Sunday, March 29, the
Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit in West
Jennifer and Max Barish of Farmington
Bloomfield hosted a family event Hills make charoset.
to get everyone ready for Pesach.
Sponsored by local Jewish family
dried banana (not especially popular)
educators, the Jewish Federation of
and chocolate chips (very popular),
Metropolitan Detroit, Shalom Street,
from which children could scoop their
the Barbara & Douglas Bloom Matzah
own mixture.
Factory and Congregations B'nai
Guests also received copies of cha-
Moshe in West Bloomfield, Shaarey
roset recipes from Hawaii, Greece,
Zedek of Oakland County and Shir
Egypt, Afghanistan and all around
Tikvah of Troy, the program featured
the world. Some of the braver boys
an afternoon of free events.
and girls opted to grate a bit of horse-
As they entered the building, chil-
radish.
dren received a small sheet depicting
In the ORT Resource Center, chil-
each of the plagues. Their mission was
dren were presented with cups of clear
to roam the building and experience
beads (vermin). In Handleman Hall,
Passover fun, all the while collecting/
creating each plague, which they could boys and girls made origami frogs,
then take home in a nifty bag for their parted the Red Sea (drop pepper [the
wandering Jews] into water, then place
own seders.
a tiny bit of dishwashing liquid on
In Shalom Street, tables were filled
your finger and place in the water), did
with cups of charoset ingredients like
a search-and-find and answered a
quiz to test their knowledge of the
holiday.
"This was a wonderful event that
we were so happy to present to the
community," said Kimberly Ford,
the JCC's Jewish Family Educator.
"We had a great group working on
this together and it couldn't have
happened without all of their hard
work and dedication. I can't wait to
do it all again next year." Ell

Elizabeth Applebaum is a marketing

specialist with the Jewish Community

Center of Metropolitan Detroit.

Sarah Bloom of Birmingham

holds her breath while grating

horseradish.

T

— the thanksgiving offering — and
ruth be told, our Torah por-
tion this week isn't one of the it was different at its core. Rather
than coming out of the mistakes we
most exciting we find in our
tradition. Most of the verses here pres- have made, this one responded to the
ent a detailed account of the sacrifices goodness we find in our world, the
offered by the ancient Israelites — sin goodness with which God has blessed
us. All these other sacrifices deal with
offerings, guilt offerings, burnt offer-
the problems in our world, the evil
ings and thanksgiving offerings —
each with their own regulations and
experienced, even the imperfections
we bring into it. Yet this korban todah,
procedures. For the ancients, every
this thanksgiving offering
detail was of the utmost
is just a pure celebration of
significance, every detail
life and its wonder.
was clearly explained. Yet
Within that lies the
for us today, when we are
beauty in our ancient tradi-
not yearning for the Temple
tion. Despite everything we
to reinstitute the sacrificial
experience in life, despite
cult, what could we possibly
the problems we find swirl-
learn from such ritual?
ing around us, goodness
Some suggest that these
and gratitude are everlast-
verses about the sacrifices
ing — and they are what
remain in order to teach
Rabbi Michael
will keep us going. In the
us much greater lessons in
Moskowitz
midst of the most chal-
life, much more significant
Special to the
lenged economy, a world at
things than the methods
Jewish News
war, a world filled with pov-
and the preparations of the
erty and illness, with igno-
offerings.
For instance, Rabbi Levi in the third rance and bigotry, a world in which
sometimes, we just want to give up,
century pointed out that the word
it can be quite difficult to see beyond
olah, meaning "burnt offering," can
the pain.
also be read as alah, meaning "behave
That in and of itself is the reason
boastfully." Therefore, he argued, the
Torah's statements "this is the law con- our faith instituted this special offer-
ing — because it forces us to give
cerning the olah. It shall go up upon
thanks. So as we prepare for Pesach
its burning place on the altar ..." can
this week, we give thanks. As we say,
be understood to mean, "This is the
let all who are hungry come and eat;
law concerning the alah, the boastful
we give thanks for the food before us.
person. He shall be destroyed by fire."
We give thanks for family to share
That's one way to avoid talking
with. We give thanks for a community
about those sacrifices. The arrogant
that supports us. We spiritually pres-
person, he declares, will ultimately
ent our korban todah today, and we
end up as a burnt sacrifice on his or
recognize how blessed we truly are. Ell
her own altar. (Leviticus Rabbah 7:6)
Possible. Yet maybe there is some-
Michael Moskowitz is a rabbi at Temple
thing even more significant within
Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield.
this whole offering thing. Three out of
the four sacrifices mentioned in this
portion are what we do when we've
made a mistake. After realizing that
Conversations
you've committed a sin, then a sacri-
Discuss some of the reasons you
fice was offered as a way to acknowl-
are thankful for what you have.
edge your own imperfection and to
In what ways do we demonstrate
demonstrate your desire to do better
our thankfulness and what more
in the future.
can we do?
But then there is this one different
kind of offering — the korban todah

April 2 - 2009

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