» commentar y Food And Freedom Lessons from the garden for Passover. Sunday, May 15, 2016 WWW .W ALK F OR I SRAEL . ORG 8:00am: 5K Family Fun Run Starts (registration required) FREE Kosher Lunch 10:30am: Open to the Public 11:00am: Special Guest Speaker Gil Hoffman, Chief Political Correspondent and Analyst for The Jerusalem Post 12:30pm: Kosher Lunch (no charge) 1:30pm: Walk Starts Community-wide Event Hosted by Temple Shir Shalom (3999 Walnut Lake Rd., corner of Orchard Lake and Walnut Lake Rd.) Convenient nearby parking & shuttle service available. For more info contact : Andre Douville @ 248-737-8700 or andre@walkforisrael.org Proud Corporate Sponsors MSJ Packaging Co-Sponsors * Temple Shir Shalom Friends of Israel Congregation Beth Ahm Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah AIPAC Amy & Andre Douville Friends of Israel Defense Forces B’nai B’rith International Great Lakes Region Hebrew Memorial Chapel Hillel Day School Congregation Shir Tikvah Congregation Shaarey Zedek The Detroit Jewish News Jiffy Signs Inc. & JS Printing Scyllaweb Fran Bell Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce B’nai Israel Synagogue Adat Shalom Synagogue Michigan Board of Rabbis National Council of Jewish Women Suretta Must Temple Beth El jbrooksdesign inc. Anne & Euge Greenstein Art Fishman Birmingham Temple Hillel of Metro Detroit Holocaust Memorial Center Temple Kol Ami Frankel Jewish Academy Volunteers for Israel Zionist Organization of America Michigan Region Stand With Us Michigan Federation of Metro Detroit Walk for Israel is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization, federal tax ID # 45-3546279. Metro Detroit Board of Jewish Educators Michigan Board of Cantors Israel Bonds Jewish National Fund MJS Packaging American Technion Society Detroit Chapter Tam-O-Shanter Country Club Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit B’nai B’rith Youth Organization Temple Emanu-El Ameinu Detroit Temple Israel The Law Offices of Ronald B. Rich & Associates Ban & Jim Manna Rebecca Starr Rebecca E. Starr | Special to the Jewish News I was raised on a sheep farm in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in a small town called Pickford. This isn’t a phrase you hear very often, especially from a Jewish girl, but nevertheless, it is the life my parents chose for me for the first 18 years of my life. We lived off of the land. Our farm produced everything we needed to fill our bodies with healthy, whole- some foods, and we were deeply con- nected to the land on which we lived. Our garden produced more veg- etables than our freezer could hold, and we ate the lamb that we raised. My connection to food and where it comes from is rooted in my rich past, and I am regularly reminded of it as the Passover season approaches. AS WE EAT MATZAH Matzah (unleavened bread) is the bread of affliction, the lechem oni, or the bread of poverty. The Jewish custom of eating matzah for seven or eight days (depending on your cus- *as of 4-7-16 Design Donated by: 2075370 48 April 14 • 2016 John Hardwick Please visit our website to learn more and register for the event. tom) during the holiday of Passover reminds us that we were once slaves in Egypt. It reminds us that we did not have the resources to diversify or even complete our meals in bondage. The act of eating matzah takes us back to a place and time when food and freedom were scarce. It is truly amazing that such a simple food can bring such a strong and important message about the journey of the Jewish people. In truth, it also offers a very modern message to us as Jews living in the 21st century. Bondage and slavery can pres- ent themselves in many forms. The Israelites were literally slaves to the work of Pharaoh, but chains need not be present for us to feel as though we are victims of certain types of injustices today. When we consider the ways in which we access food on a daily basis, we realize quickly that sustainable, healthy, local, fair trade food is extremely difficult to find and even more difficult to find in less affluent areas.