The ancient Jewish rituals of Passover, which begins the evening of April 1 in 2026, will take on renewed meaning for the members of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.
The temple was attacked March 12 by a man who loaded a rifle, fireworks and jugs of gasoline into a pickup and rammed the truck through the doors of the preschool, where more than 100 children were in their classrooms. The FBI said Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, of Dearborn Heights, was intent on killing Israelis and was motivated by support for Hezbollah, a Lebanese group long designated by the United States as a terrorist organization.
The damage to the temple precludes its use for a communal Seder dinner, which has traditionally been held on the second night of Passover, Rabbi Joshua Bennett said.
“This year because of the building, we canceled our program and invited people to actually go to a variety of other communal second-night Seders at other synagogues,” Bennett told the Free Press.
Bennett said other synagogues have opened their doors to visitors from Temple Israel and most families celebrate the traditional Seder in their own homes. The holiday is marked by traditional foods including unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Families say prayers and tell stories that have been handed down for centuries.
“The Seder has a standard number of things that are on it each year that come from Jewish tradition,” Bennett said. “But, every year, when modern events happen, we often add an item that represents that particular moment in time.”
Bennett urged members of his congregation to place a Lego brick at their upcoming Seder dinners to celebrate the Passover. The brick can symbolize the lost innocence of the children and the staffers who were at the temple when it was attacked. But it will also symbolize the process of rebuilding.
Bennett and others said that they were thankful the attack on Temple Israel wasn’t much worse. The only person to die in the attack was Ghazali, who shot himself in his truck during a shootout with security guards inside the preschool hallway. One security guard was injured in the attack but is expected to recover.
The repairs to the temple building are going to take “months and months” Bennett said. The entrances to the campus remain closed and a police presence is still visible to passersby on Walnut Lake Road. The preschool which was housed there hasn’t been able to meet since the attack.
Bennett said temple leaders are working to arrange alternate space for the classes to gather again and he hopes to have an announcement for families in the near future. For now, he and others will focus on their families and their faith.
“We are very excited to gather together even in our own homes and to be with the people that we love and to be able to figure out a way to survive through the pain and, ultimately, feel a sense of purpose again,” Bennett said.
Bennett said the feast of Passover commemorates the people of Israel being delivered from slavery in ancient Egypt. The story of Moses parting the Red Sea and leading his people to freedom comes from Shemot, the second book of the Torah. Christian Bibles refer to it as the Book of Exodus.
“Moses stands up to Pharaoh and says we will not be oppressed and then leads the people through the Red Sea to deliverance,” Bennett said. “I think that it is incredibly symbolic this year. We have stood up to a Pharaoh, a modern Pharaoh, and we are leading this community through challenging waters but, ultimately, we hope, to a promised land of new building and a renewed sense of purpose.”
Contact John Wisely: jwisely@freepress.com. On X: @jwisely
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As Jews around the world gather in their homes and synagogues to mark the beginning of Passover tonight, the ancient ritual takes on renewed meeting for members of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Passover takes on renewed meaning this year for Temple Israel
Reporting by John Wisely, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
