TEMPLE SHIR SHALOM in association with the METROPOLITAN DETROIT FEDERATION OF REFORM SYNAGOGUES invites you to join us for the annual Isaac Mayer Wise Shabbat Service Friday, March 29 at 7:30N featuring RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN Newsweek has referred to Rabbi David Saperstein as the most influential rabbi in the country and a Washington Post profile as the "quintessential religious lobbyist on Capitol Hill," in his role over 30 years, representing the Reform Jewish Move- ment to Congress and the Administration as the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC). Under Rabbi Saperstein, writes J.J. Goldberg in his book Jewish Power, the Religious Action Center "has become one of the most power- ful Jewish bodies in Washington, second only to AIPAC." In addition to its advocating on a broad range of social justice issues, the RAC provides extensive legislative and programmatic materials to syna- gogues nationwide and coordinates social action education programs that train nearly 3,000 Jewish adults, youth, rabbinic and lay leaders each year. A prolific writer and speaker, Rabbi Saperstein has appeared on a number of television news and talk shows including Oprah, Nightline, Lehrer News Hour, ABC's Sunday Morning, Crossfire, Hardball — and the O'Reilly Factor. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Harvard Law Review. His latest book is Jewish Dimensions of Social Justice: Tough Moral Choices of Our Time. RSVP TO DAVE HENIG at dahenig@comcast.net or 248.682.4992 Tis event is free and open to the public. T_iere will be an oneg after services. 80-VER AN/V/, TEMPLE SHIR SHALOM 3999 WALNUT LAKE ROAD WEST BLOOMFIELD Est. 1988 design courtesy of: edsoett,p, 1822950 46 March 21 • 2013 Passover The Family from page 45 out-of-the-house schedule addition. A block of her pre-Passover time is spent at model seders and holiday school programs involving grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She has attended at least 100 through the years, some- times two on the same day! Insisting that she be in charge of the cooking, one of the very few chores my mom actually delegates is some of the shopping, but only on her terms. She never merely says please get salad greens or ingredients for a cake. She will say, "Go to Kroger where 10 dozen eggs are on sale for $10" or to One Stop in Oak Park for a specific romaine lettuce in a specific-sized container. My assignment has long been to purchase the soft drinks, although most years the request will come with the tagline, "But it was on sale at Meijer, so I already bought a couple of dozen bottles:' Invariably, each time I shop, other customers will stare into my carts filled with several hundred liters of Coke and ask, "Oh, is it on sale?" or say, "You must really like pop" or the most common question that comes with a silly laugh: "Where's the party?" Most years, we revisit the story of how my car broke down on Northwestern while transporting the drinks to my parents' home and how the tow truck driver helped catch the bottles that rolled onto the road while we transferred them into my daugh- ter's car. go One Goes Hungry A traditional pre-Passover sight at my parents' home is my dad at the kitchen table, slicing roast beef or rolling meatballs — this year there are 134 — and placing them on tray after tray after tray. And my mother is no ordinary cook, with her multitude of stored recipes accumulated from cooking classes, cookbooks and those shared by others, most of which have her added per- sonal touch. The typical Passover meal includes an appetizer like beef-stuffed onions, one of various homemade soups, often two entrees with sides, and desserts like a family favorite, a mousse-filled chocolate delicacy called "Elegant Passover Dessert:' Everything is created with peerless quality, but also in unnatural quan- tity. This year's holiday preparations included the purchase of 20 dozen eggs and the cooking of six gallons of chicken soup and nearly 100 popovers, with more food cooked as the holiday progresses. Passover at my parents' home is really just an elaborate, chametz-free extension of their year-round hospital- Ceil Liebman mixes matzah meal for popovers for a 1986 Passover meal. ity. The usual Passover crowd is four generations and extends to siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and in-laws. The seders are the one time each year when everyone is together; no "other sides:' No one seems to care that this is the holiday of little sleep, with seders that end near 1 a.m., the sounds of the women meeting for cake and tea at 3 in the morning, the early rising of eight young children and the fact that all the Passover Coke is caffeinated. It's hectic, continual and seem- ingly never-ending, but even when it is finally over we all meet again, in my parents' kitchen. We help pack up the Passover dishes, my dad sorts the silverware into its divided organizers, and everything is transported to the basement and garage, and the year- round replacements return to their normal posts. After our "jobs" are done, we all gather for our final family Passover tradition: the post-holiday meal. At a table highlighted by a late-night Jerusalem Pizza dinner, we review our week, laugh at remembered sto- ries and make a Diet Coke toast of gratitude, love and appreciation to the planner, preparer, organizer. Hiding what must be utter exhaus- tion, my mom always says she's sorry it's over, calls the months of prepara- tion a "labor of love" and sincerely invites us all to come back again next year. Although sometimes she uses a line from the Haggadah and sug- gests, with a smile, maybe it would be a lot easier if we met, "Next year in Jerusalem:' ❑ For Ceil Liebman's recipes, visit www. thejewishnews.corn.