It's part of a national program initiated several years ago to reach out to Jews who are buying matzos for Passover but do not belong to a house of worship.
"The idea is, 'Listen, everybody goes shopping,' " said Rabbi Aaron Schonbrun of Congregation Beth David in Saratoga, Calif. "Even your average Jewish person that may be vaguely aware that it's Passover, or may not be aware it's Passover, or is just in the supermarket."
Volunteers from his synagogue are setting up tables at two nearby supermarkets before Passover, which begins at sundown Wednesday. The practice is also taking place on Long Island, N.Y., and in Tucson, Ariz.; Seattle and elsewhere.
It's one of the ways Jewish leaders are grappling with the vast numbers of Jews who do not belong to a synagogue, along with shrinking numbers overall.
According to the National Jewish Population Survey 2001-2002, about 5.2 million Jews live in the United States, down 300,000 from 1990 despite a wave of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The survey found that a majority of Jews do not belong to a synagogue. Those who fail to affiliate with synagogues or other Jewish organizations are much more likely to intermarry, according to researchers, and much more likely to have children who do not identify themselves as Jewish.
The Jewish Information Center of Houston is holding a communal Seder on Wednesday. Unaffiliated Jews, interfaith families and people seeking a Seder experience are invited to the kosher meal, according to Rabbi Howard Siegel.
Siegel said he expects 125 unaffiliated Jews to attend the Seder. The rabbi said outreach efforts in nontraditional sites like grocery stores can be successful.
"Today Jews are not flocking to the synagogues like they did 50 years ago," Siegel said. For three years he has taught a Sunday morning class on Jewish law at Borders Books Music and Cafe in Meyerland Plaza. The 11 a.m. to noon class attracts about 30 unaffiliated Jews and non-Jews, he said.
"The thing about Borders is that it is nonthreatening," Siegel said. Many unaffiliated Jews are intimidated by synagogues, he said. He has also held classes in coffee bars.
He has accumulated more than 800 names of the unaffiliated on a data base and said about 100 have joined or become active in synagogues over the three-year history of the center.
Temple Beth Tikvah will host a group Seder April 15 at Baywood Country Club in Pasadena. No one in Houston seems to be adopting the grocery-store strategy, although several local religious leaders called it ingenious.
It's not without precedent either, said Rabbi Betzalel Marinovsky of Chabad Lubavitch Center in southwest Houston. During the Spanish Inquisition, he said, Jews who wished to attend a Seder service would hang out at the markets just before Passover and observe the shoppers. When they noticed someone buying select holiday ingredients, they would risk approaching that person for an invitation.
Today, if someone is buying matzos or gefilte fish, Marinovsky added, "it means they are taken care of," in other words they have somewhere to go for Passover and some degree of interest in their own traditions. Chabad, he said, prefers to reach out to "the fifth son."
By long tradition, four sons figure into the Passover service. They are described variously as wise, wicked, simple and apathetic. Any Jew who has ever attended a Seder knows about the four sons. So who is this fifth fellow?
"That's the one who does not attend the Seder on his own," Marionovsky said. And he won't be found in the supermarket buying matzo. He won't even be aware that it's Passover.
"We have to look him up," Marinovsky said, "and invite him to the Seder."
The New York Times, Chronicle food editor Peggy Grodinsky and Chronicle religion editor Richard Vara contributed to this report.
"The idea is, 'Listen, everybody goes shopping,' " said Rabbi Aaron Schonbrun of Congregation Beth David in Saratoga, Calif. "Even your average Jewish person that may be vaguely aware that it's Passover, or may not be aware it's Passover, or is just in the supermarket."
Volunteers from his synagogue are setting up tables at two nearby supermarkets before Passover, which begins at sundown Wednesday. The practice is also taking place on Long Island, N.Y., and in Tucson, Ariz.; Seattle and elsewhere.
It's one of the ways Jewish leaders are grappling with the vast numbers of Jews who do not belong to a synagogue, along with shrinking numbers overall.
According to the National Jewish Population Survey 2001-2002, about 5.2 million Jews live in the United States, down 300,000 from 1990 despite a wave of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The survey found that a majority of Jews do not belong to a synagogue. Those who fail to affiliate with synagogues or other Jewish organizations are much more likely to intermarry, according to researchers, and much more likely to have children who do not identify themselves as Jewish.
The Jewish Information Center of Houston is holding a communal Seder on Wednesday. Unaffiliated Jews, interfaith families and people seeking a Seder experience are invited to the kosher meal, according to Rabbi Howard Siegel.
Siegel said he expects 125 unaffiliated Jews to attend the Seder. The rabbi said outreach efforts in nontraditional sites like grocery stores can be successful.
"Today Jews are not flocking to the synagogues like they did 50 years ago," Siegel said. For three years he has taught a Sunday morning class on Jewish law at Borders Books Music and Cafe in Meyerland Plaza. The 11 a.m. to noon class attracts about 30 unaffiliated Jews and non-Jews, he said.
"The thing about Borders is that it is nonthreatening," Siegel said. Many unaffiliated Jews are intimidated by synagogues, he said. He has also held classes in coffee bars.
He has accumulated more than 800 names of the unaffiliated on a data base and said about 100 have joined or become active in synagogues over the three-year history of the center.
Temple Beth Tikvah will host a group Seder April 15 at Baywood Country Club in Pasadena. No one in Houston seems to be adopting the grocery-store strategy, although several local religious leaders called it ingenious.
It's not without precedent either, said Rabbi Betzalel Marinovsky of Chabad Lubavitch Center in southwest Houston. During the Spanish Inquisition, he said, Jews who wished to attend a Seder service would hang out at the markets just before Passover and observe the shoppers. When they noticed someone buying select holiday ingredients, they would risk approaching that person for an invitation.
Today, if someone is buying matzos or gefilte fish, Marinovsky added, "it means they are taken care of," in other words they have somewhere to go for Passover and some degree of interest in their own traditions. Chabad, he said, prefers to reach out to "the fifth son."
By long tradition, four sons figure into the Passover service. They are described variously as wise, wicked, simple and apathetic. Any Jew who has ever attended a Seder knows about the four sons. So who is this fifth fellow?
"That's the one who does not attend the Seder on his own," Marionovsky said. And he won't be found in the supermarket buying matzo. He won't even be aware that it's Passover.
"We have to look him up," Marinovsky said, "and invite him to the Seder."
The New York Times, Chronicle food editor Peggy Grodinsky and Chronicle religion editor Richard Vara contributed to this report.
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