World White House Passover Obama's seder reprises last year's. Eric Fingerhut Jewish Telegraphic Agency Washington W hen the first night of Passover last year fell just three days before the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, a group of Obama staffers held an impromptu seder in the basement of a Harrisburg hotel. Then-candidate Barack Obama attend- ed, and after the traditional "Next Year in Jerusalem," he and others added, "Next Year in the White House!" That's exactly what the president did last week when he held what is believed to have been the first-ever seder in the White House. For Obama, it was the continuation of last year's tradition, with the president inviting everyone who attended the cam- paign-trail seder to the White House seder on April 9, the second night of Passover. A White House spokesman said the 20-person group used Maxwell House Haggadahs and dined on a menu that included matzah ball soup, brisket, roasted chicken, noodle kugel and macaroons. Recipes were provided to the White House President Obama hosts a Passover seder at the White House on April 9. cooks by attendees. The White House kitchen was not techni- cally kashered for Passover; the spokesman said the meal was served "kosher style!' (The White House kitchen was made kosher during the Bush administration for Chanukah parties, the first time in 2006). Word first surfaced on April 7 that Obama would be hosting a White House seder after the event appeared on the president's schedule without details. Apparently the disclosure caused a clamor among some Jewish Obama supporters who were upset that they weren't on the guest list, prompting one White House aide to ask that it be deleted from the schedule. Jewish supporters "here and in neigh- boring states are now calling,wondering why they have not been invited;' the aide wrote in an e-mail that was inadvertently attached to a copy of the president's schedule that was sent to reporters on April 9. Eric Lesser, the campaign staffer who put together the 2008 event and the special assistant to White House senior adviser David Axelrod, organized the seder. In addition to the first family, attendees included Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett; Obama family friend Eric Whitaker; White House videographer Arun Chaudhary; White House associate counsel Susan Sher, who also does liaison work with the Jewish community; vice presidential aide Herbie Ziskend; Lisa Kohnke, the deputy director of advance and special events at the Office of Public Liaison; White House associate social sec- retary Samantha Tubman; the first lady's deputy chief of staff, Melissa Winter; and Reggie Love and Dana Lewis, personal aides to the president and first lady. ❑ Jet-Setting Two area CPAs make a whirlwind business trip to Israel. Alan Hitsky Associate Editor F lying 12,000 miles in 41/2 days is dizzying. For two certified public accountants to do it in the middle of tax season might seem crazy. Yet, Ronald Silberstein and Joel Ungar made the trip at the end of March to work with an Israeli accounting firm. During their 60 hours in Israel, they had time for three hours of sightseeing. It was Ungar's first visit to Israel in 30 years; it was Silberstein's first visit. The two are principals at Maddox, Ungar and Silberstein PLLC in Bingham Farms, a CPA firm that specializes in help- ing publicly traded companies with rev- enues up to $200 million. The Israeli firm contacted them through MSI, an interna- tional organization of CPAs and attorneys. A40 April 16 2009 Maddox, Ungar and Silberstein is four years old and specializes in auditing pub- licly traded companies. With five CPAs, one MBA and several other staffers, the firm has carved out a niche. It has approximately 200 business clients, including publicly traded, privately held and franchise com- panies. The firm has become one of the top 30 in the U.S. in its field, said Silberstein. "This type of work requires a lot of spe- cific expertise that most small accounting firms stay away from:' he said. The firm has been growing at the rate of one new client per week. The Israeli firm has several Israeli clients that are publicly traded in the United States. With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission tightening controls, the Israeli firm sought guidance here. "We didn't want to go to Israel to do an audit:' Silberstein said, "so we viewed much of the case via e-mail and fax. But in the end, it became apparent that face-to-face contact would be helpful." In their 31/2 days in Israel, the two West Bloomfield residents went through the CPA's files, interviewed staff about quality controls and con- ducted finish testing. "It will be ongoing work:' Ronald Silberstein and Joel Ungar Silbesrstein said. "But the Israeli firm had no issues. We were pretty impressed." ed tour of the city. They had time for one Ungar said there are quite a few differenc- hour of sleep before boarding a 5:30 a.m. es between U.S. and international account- flight to return home. ing rules, and "we made sure the staff was Silberstein is somewhat used to that licensed and up to date on U.S. rules!' routine: He flew 100,000 miles on business Following the work in the Israeli last year. Ungar is more used to being in CPAs Jerusalem office, the two Michigan the office, but he didn't mind a whirlwind accountants were given a three-hour guid- trip to Israel. ❑