Keeping alive an ancient Passover tradition of...

Keeping alive an ancient Passover tradition of ma’ot hittim , “money for wheat,” a project of the Jewish Family Service has begun its annual drive to provide holiday dinners for thousands of needy Jews in the Los Angeles area.

The Passover Program provides community Seders, ritual holiday meals, at several locations in Los Angeles. It also makes cash disbursements to individuals so that they can buy the special foods--including unleavened wheat bread--necessary to hold their own Seders.

Certain foods symbolizing the bitterness of the Israelites’ slavery under the Pharoah and the haste in which they fled Egypt are as integral to the annual telling of the dramatic Exodus story as the 10 plagues that smite the Egyptians and the parting of the Red Sea, said Rabbi Joel Rembaum of Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles.

“It is commanded that even the poorest Jew must participate in this festive meal to celebrate the turning point in Jewish history when the Israelites were freed from slavery,” Rembaum said.

“Therefore, the community, whose responsibility is the spiritual and material welfare of each Jew, must make sure that all Jews have the capacity to meet the obligation of this unusual meal in which the spiritual and material are intertwined,” said Rembaum, who conducts one of the Passover Program Seders at his synagogue.

Last year more than 1,400 people attended 11 Seders sponsored by the Jewish Family Service in conjunction with the Los Angeles and San Fernando councils of B’nai B’rith and B’nai B’rith Women. Judy Harris, the program’s campaign manager, said among the people included in the Seders were battered women and their children, recovering alcoholics and the blind.

But most of the Seder participants were senior citizens on limited incomes who have no family in the area. “The shared celebration of freedom brings back their own childhoods and families with whom they’re no longer in touch,” Rembaum said. “The fact that this event has been put together expressly for them creates a momentary liberation from their loneliness and the difficult concerns that aging brings.”

In addition to organizing the community Seders, the project issues checks--last year about 4,000 were written--for Passover food. It also joins forces with the Southern California Board of Rabbis to provide kosher food for Seders for more than 1,000 people in 26 institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and prisons, as well as to housebound AIDS patients.

The cash grants are to go to anyone who needs them for the holiday. “We give out as much money as we take in,” Harris said. “Many of the recipients are Russian emigres who have had no Passover experience because they were not allowed to celebrate under the Soviet regime. It’s a really meaningful entrance into the world of Judaism. They celebrate liberation from bondage in Egypt and their own liberation.”

Harris said the funds for the 15-year-old project come entirely from individual donations. Because of the economy, “the phone has been ringing off the hook with requests for aid and it’s only February. We have way more requests than we have money so far,” she said.

Applications for Passover aid or Seder attendance must be made in person. Phone (213) 653-4167 for English and (213) 653-5370 for Russian language information. Contributions may be sent to: Jewish Family Service Passover Program, 6505 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 614, Los Angeles, CA 90048.

SPEAKERS

James H. Ottley, Episcopal bishop of Panama and an Afro-Panamanian, will speak on “Justice, Spirituality and Black and Indigenous Peoples of the Americas” at a fund-raising dinner and public forum Monday, March 1, at Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. The dinner, benefiting the Episcopal Peace and Justice Commission and Southern California Ecumenical Council Interfaith Taskforce on Central America, begins at 6 p.m, the forum at 8 p.m. Ottley will also speak at an 8 a.m. breakfast Tuesday, March 2, at Episcopal Diocesan House, 1220 W. 4th St., Los Angeles. For ticket information, phone (213) 653-4221.

Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, director of the Commission on Women’s Rights of the Jewish Feminist Center of the American Jewish Congress, speaks on the meaning and importance of Purim at a seminar from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday at the University of Judaism. Admission is $18. (310) 476-9777, ext. 246.

Maulana Ron Karenga, professor of black studies at California State University, Long Beach, and originator of the Kwanza holiday, will discuss the crisis in Somalia at 11 a.m. services Sunday, Feb. 28, at First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, 2936 W. 8th St. (213) 389-1356.

DATES

Holman United Methodist Church presents the 34th annual concert of Negro spirituals by the Holman Choir at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 27 and 28, at 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $17.50, $25 and $50. (213) 731-7285.

Brotherhood is the theme of the second annual international Sabbath at the Downey-Florence Seventh-day Adventist Church at 10:50 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 27. An international food festival follows the service at 9820 Lakewood Blvd., Downey. (310) 869-6013.

St. Thomas Parish in Hollywood holds a Lenten Quiet Day next Saturday, led by the Sisters of the Holy Nativity. Two periods of meditation will be followed by prayer and Mass at noon. Lunch provided. A $12 donation is requested. St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church, 7501 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 876-2102.

“Making News and Sharing It: Promotion Planning for Congregations,” a live teleconference on congregational communications, will take place at 9:15 a.m. to noon Tuesday, March 2, at three Southern California locations: in Claremont, Van Nuys and Rancho Penasquitos, north of San Diego. Planning, market research and budget organization will be covered, as well as guidelines for media relations and advertising tips. Three church public relations professionals will make televised presentations, and facilitators from the Religious Public Relations Council will be at each site. The event, sponsored by the council and the United Methodist Communications, is open to all faiths. For registration information, phone (818) 568-7329.

BRIEFLY

Broadcast journalist Jess Marlow is keynote speaker at the National Conference Interfaith/Intercultural Prayer Breakfast at 7 a.m. Friday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Long Beach. Tickets are $15 and must be reserved by Tuesday. (310) 433-8676 . . . Monty Hall emcees a cantorial concert by singers from across the country honoring Cantor Joseph Gole’s 10 years of service to Congregation Mogen David at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Phone (213) 556-5609 for ticket information . . . More than 600 people turned out in Anaheim recently to honor retiring Far East Broadcasting Co. President Robert H. Bowman for more than 47 years of service in missionary radio broadcasting . . . The ordination of the Rev. Jacqueline Johns takes place at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at services of the Central Glendale Church of Religious Science in the Glendale Masonic Temple building, 244 N. Maryland St. (818) 980-2252 . . . Jewish Family Services announces registration for classes sponsored by the Older Adult Service and Information program Tuesday and Wednesday between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. at 6282 W. 3rd St., in the Park La Brea shopping center. Classes range from philosophy and crafts to wellness and exercise. (213) 931-8968 . . . Catholic Big Brothers is looking for volunteers to befriend fatherless children (213) 251-9800.

Please address notices to: Southern California File, c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif. 90053. Fax: (213) 237-4712. Items should be brief and arrive at least three weeks before the event.