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March 23, 2001/Adar 28, 5761, Vol. 53, No.25
Writing the storyEditorialPassover is imminent, as this issue's annual Passover Planner reminds. Jewish News Special Section Editor Alisa Berman has put together a delightful collection of recipes and how-to's sure to whet your appetite and enliven your holiday observance.Thoughts turn to kugels and kichels, to Haggadot and seder plates, and how to squeeze just one more guest around the seder table. Yet while the focus of holiday planners is on food and family, Passover's true meaning turns on retelling the age-old story of the Israelites' journey to freedom. So perhaps it is fitting that Super Sunday this year falls March 25, just two weeks before Passover. The daylong effort to reach Valley families and elicit their support for the annual United Jewish Communities/Federation Campaign is a Valley tradition. Hundreds of volunteers will staff the phone bank at federation's offices in central Phoenix from early morning into the evening, spreading their message of communal responsibility and asking for others to join them. The annual campaign helps fund 11 local agencies that provide a raft of services spanning the generational spectrum: taking care of the elderly among us, teaching our children and ourselves, reaching out to those in distress. Further, funds raised help us meet essential needs for Jews in Israel and 59 other nations around the world, providing hot meals for Jewish zaydes and bubbes in the former Soviet Union; lessons in the alef-bet for newly arrived Ethiopian immigrants to Israel; counseling and support for families in crisis in Phoenix. In the spirit of Passover, we are finding seats at the table of human goodness for Jews anywhere and everywhere, in need, in pain, at risk. In doing so, we are not just fulfilling the mitzvah of retelling the ancient story of Jewish redemption; we are helping to write it. Through our actions to build strong, vibrant Jewish communities, we are assuring the protection and preservation of Jewish life for generations to come. When the phone rings this Sunday, let's all answer the call and pencil ourselves in as part of the continuing story. |
