MARCH 30 • 2023 | 43

to look inside themselves. 
“It’s a great opportunity 
to dig deeper into who we 
really are, and not just what 
we think consciously who we 
could become, but deep down 
to connect to who we can be,” 
Greenwald says. 
Meanwhile, students enrolled 
in Efshar Circle, a collabo-
ration between Opening the 
Doors and Friendship Circle, 
have been busy learning 
about Passover, says Rabbi 
Levi Shemtov, co-director 
of Friendship Circle in West 
Bloomfield. It’s a holiday where 
everyone comes together and 
is catered to for their unique 
abilities. 
“We prepare the children 
in our program to be able to 
meaningfully participate in 
their seder,
” he says. Some 
children can learn the Four 
Questions, others can come 
with their own seder plate, but 
the goal is for the whole family 
to be able to participate. 
“There isn’t one person who 
can’t contribute. They don’t 
have to stop when they come 
around the table to the place 
where that child with special 
needs is,
” he says.
Throughout the communi-
ty, various organizations help 

people overcome all kinds of 
hurdles to have seders they can 
enjoy. Sometimes the challenge 
is getting food on the table. 
Dini Peterson, chief program 
officer at Jewish Family Service 
of Metropolitan Detroit, helps 
make sure food insecurity isn’t 
a barrier for people wanting to 
celebrate Passover. 
The organization provides 
food assistance in the form of 
gift cards to people who apply 
for aid. “They can go into the 
store and have the same expe-
rience as anyone else and use 
that gift card for the food items 
that are important to them,” 
she says. “Individuals in need 
of assistance can apply directly 
through our website to qualify.” 
It’s a program that’s been 
going on for more than a dozen 
years, and it makes a difference 
in helping people prepare for 
the holiday, she says. Last year 
alone, it helped 374 families. 
“With tuition, insurance, 
food and holiday costs, we have 
a very hard time making ends 
meet,
” says a single mother with 
two children who receives assis-
tance from the organization. 
“Most months, we rely on 
assistance to pay basic bills and 
for food. This is a very needed 
help for Passover.
” 

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