Ceil Liebman watches

her husband, Jerry,

founder of Specs

Howard School

of Media Arts in

Southfield, slice the

first of many briskets.

me Family Who
Came To Dinner...

Shelli Liebman Dorfman

I Contributing Writer

T

he typical Passover seder guest may show up
with a matzah meal broccoli casserole or a box of
kosher-for-Pesach matzah covered in chocolate.
At my parents' Southfield home, about half of the nearly
40 guests arrive with suitcases, garment bags and maybe
a hat box, and some with sleeping bags, air mattresses or
Pack 'n Plays.
Since 1967, my parents, Ceil and Jerry Liebman, have
hosted a Passover experience that only begins with a seder
and continues throughout the eight-day holiday. Some
guests come to stay for the days surrounding the seders;
others don't leave until the holiday ends.
The annual family "happening" includes arrivals
by plane, train, car and bus. In addition to those who,
through the years, have traveled from Israel, Boston, West
Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Florida and
Toronto are the locals who load up their vans in West
Bloomfield and Farmington Hills with plans for a close-to-
home sleepover. Well organized in advance, they all arrive
with instructions on where to locate their bed, couch, crib
or corner to set up camp. This is the group my mom calls
"the live-ins:'
Tables for the seders — and day-after post-synagogue

At the Liebmans'
there is no question
why this holiday is
different from all others.

lunches — are set up in the large family room. That
room's usual furniture of couches, chairs and various cof-
fee, end and game tables spends Passover in the garage
— practically the only space where no one sleeps! The
furniture is joined by neatly organized tables covered with
boxes and bins of grocery items.
One piece of the leather sectional couch ends up in
the dining room as a place of slumber for one adult or
two small children. The large stuffed couches in the den
provide space to become the overnight home to a couple
more. The four upstairs bedrooms are filled as is the
entire basement, from the bedroom to the sitting room to
the area that surrounds the pool table.
Opening their doors and sofa beds is natural to my
parents, who, in addition to family, always also include
friends, not just for the seders — led by my dad and
brother, Marty — but for meals throughout the eight-day
holiday.

When Does She Cook?

The mystery is that no one knows when my mom actu-
ally goes into her basement Passover kitchen and does the
cooking. Her day-to-day activities seem not to change in
the weeks leading up to the holiday, except for one major

The Family on page 46

The Liebmans' seder table in 2005

March 21 • 2013

45