50 | APRIL 18 • 2024 
J
N

B

eth Bitterman of West Bloomfield 
is getting ready for a seder with 
her family and friends. They use 
an addition to the Haggadah her husband, 
David Tushman, assembled years ago that 
he calls the Passover Chronicles. “It’s his 
own little concoction of Passover stories,
” 
she says. “There are also some seder jokes, 
an ultimate seder quiz, and Passover theater, 
kind of like a play.
” 
They have a seder welcome and then 
hand out reading assignments. The family 
includes the custom of whipping with 
onions. “There’s a whole story and you take 
giant green onions and we read Dayenu in 
English,
” she says. “When you say ‘Dayenu’ 
you hit the person next to you with the 
onion, and the next time the other person 
next to you with onions.
” It represents a 
way of scolding each other for wanting any 
aspect of slavery in their lives, she says. 
Across Metro Detroit and beyond, 
families and communities are taking the 
time to make meaning during Passover, 

honoring traditions, adding new ones, and 
making sure to include creative customs 
that make the holiday feel extra special.
“Personally, growing up, we had very 
long, dry seders,
” Bitterman says. “
And this 
is something — it makes it so we want to 
do it.
”
This year they extended their traditions 
to include hosting a recent seder for a 
Catholic church group they connected 
with through her husband’s cousin and 
her coworkers. “It was a great night,
” she 
says, adding that participants jumped in, 
bringing matzah ball soup, gefilte fish and 
more. “They had so much fun.
” 

KOSHER-FOR-PASSOVER 
SNACKS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
With public school in session over the 
holiday, Ayala Kohn, director of education 
for Aish Detroit, says they’ll be helping 
give students a sense of shared holiday and 
pride, too. “We’re recognizing that Jewish 
students are feeling a little bit more isolated 

at school and less wanting to identify,
” she 
says. 
Several students will be provided with 
a stash of kosher-for-Passover snacks to 
keep in their lockers and share with other 
students over Passover. “The idea is just to 
have little bit of identifying or pride. It’s not 
about whether you keep kosher for Passover 
the whole Passover, it’s, ‘I’m going to choose 
to have a kosher-for-Passover snack and 
identify with my Jewish identity,
’” she says. 
Jen Friedman of Huntington Woods 
says she’s glad to see places creating this 
kind of kosher-for-Passover food access for 
kids, both in terms of the food itself and 
the support the offering provides students 
celebrating the holiday. 
“It’s going to be really challenging 
otherwise,
” says Friedman, whose 17-year-
old son Jacob attends Berkley High. “This 
is a first. I would have never even thought 
anyone would have provided this.
”
Jacob Friedman says the food will be a 
big help and send a message to students 

New and old traditions make the holiday 
meaningful for these families.

Innovative Seders

KAREN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

PASSOVER

LEFT: Desmond Sternberg, 4, takes a bite of matzah. 
ABOVE: Daniel and Marissa Sternberg and their children 
Desmond, Jude and baby Eleanor.

The Falcons’ 
seder plate. 

