•
Weekly Quiz
Ey RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright 111711, STA. Inc.)
Sbema in the morning is limit-
ed to the first quarter of the day.
The Bible (Dent. 6:7) commands
that one recite the words of
Shema when one arises. The
rabbis assessed the situation and
determined that the time of arising
in the morning is the first quarter
of the day. The general idea is that
man Is obligated to acknowledge
the existence and unity of God
when he gets up in the morning, or
during the time that people usu-
ally get up in the morning. Once
he has passed this slot of time
the occasion is not any more the
period when one gets up, and so
he has failed to acknowledge the
assistance and unity of God during
the time of arising.
The time of reciting the
Shema in the evening is limited
to midnight.
More like the case of reciting the
Shema in the morning, this is
associated with a prescribed time
period in the Bible. The Bible also
commands a Jew to recite the
Shama when he retires (Deut.
6-7). Since people generally retire
any time from dark to midnight
this is the period for reciting the
Shema, otherwise the Shema
will not have been recited during
the appropriate period of retire-
ment. Using these time slots, the
Jew is thus mindful of the existr
ence and unity of God, both upon
arising from his sleep and upon
retiring from his daily activity.
• • •
Why do some authorities for-
bid wearing implements of mili-
tary weapons in the synagogue?
Several reasons are advanced
for this. Some claim that when
one enters the synagogue one is to
place his full confidence and trust
in the Almighty. Wearing arms
indicates that one places one's con-
fidence in his weapons and not
necessarily in the Almighty. Some
trace it to the biblical restriction
which forbids the use of metal
tools on the altar (Exodus 20:22).
It is claimed that this latter re-
striction was because the
sanctuary was a place to unify
men, and metal had the power to
disunite them through warfare.
Hewn stones were therefore for-
bidden in the sanctuary because
they came about through break-
ing up the unity of the original
rock.
. • •
Why do some synagogues have
special sinks at the entrances?
• • •
Basically, there is a requirement
The time for reciting the to cleanse oneself before entering
Why does the Public reader of
the Torah begin reading each
portion with a loud exclamation
of "Ametat'...,
Before each reading, one of the
worshipers is called up to the
Torah and he recites a benediction
before the reading takes place. The
official reader, like anyone else in
the congregation is obligated to
recite the refrain "Amen" :;upon
hearing a benediction. The tteason
for which the reader responds with
"Amen" in a loud voice is so that
the congregation, whose attention
may have strayed in between the
readings of the portions might be
alerted again and begin to pay at-
tention to the reading which is
about to commence. Some contend
that this practice is observed to
publicly display the association
between the reader and the one
who is called to the Torah. Basic-
ally, everyone who is called to the
Torah should read the portion him-
self. It was only because fewer
and fewer people knew how to
read the Torah accurately that a
public reader was appointed in
each congregation. Still, in order
to show that the public reader is
only acting on behalf of the wor-
shipper who had been called to the
Torah ,the reader responds with a
loud "Amen" to the benediction of
the worshipper joining the two in
a united action.
• • .
Why is the 29th Psalm recited
in the synagogue when returning
the scroll to the ark on Saturday
morning?
Some say that this is done be-
cause the Psalm refers to the seven
attributes to the "voice of the Lord"
which supposedly corresponds to
the seven benedictions of the Mu-
saph service which immediately
follows the return of the scroll to
the ark (Pri M'gaddim, 284:2)...The
Torah reading reminds us of the
"voice of the Lord" at Sinai when
the Torah was given. For this rea-
son it becomes an additional tri-
bute to the almighty to offer this
Psalm after the Torah reading. The
use of-this psalm is restricted to
the Torah reading on the Sabbath
morning because it was on a Sab-
bath morning that the Torah was
originally given at Sinai. According
to some, reading the Torah is like
repeating the dramatic occurrence
at Sinai and thus the great attri-
butes of the Almighty's -voice are
referred to by reciting the 29th
Psalm.
Try and Stop Me
By BENNETT CERF
A CONVENTIONAL mother listened with growing impa-
tience while her hippie son tried to explain why he was
against everything that had enabled his parents to give him
the good things in the
days before he decided
to "revolt."
Finally, she arose from
her chair and told him,
"Stanley, I am now con-
vinced you are a more
profound a n d greater
scholar than Einstein.
They used to say only
twelve men in the whole
world could understand
what Einstein was driv-
ing at. NOBODY under-
stands you!"
• • •
4.1!
A new shoe store clerk
told the owner returning from lunch, "While you were out, I sold
a customer a pair of those new model shoes we have for $50. He
only had five bucks with him, so I took that as a deposit."
vs%
"You idiot," lamented the shoe store owner. "That's the last
you'll ever see of him or the shoes:" "Oh, he'll come back all
right," predicted the new clerk confidently. "I gave him two left
shoes."
• • •
THREE FOR THE KIDDIES:
1. Q. Two men dug a hole in four days. How Iong wouldit take
the sanctuary. This was spiritually
accomplished by washing the
hands before entering the sanc-
tuary. The hands were of special
concern because - one touches so
many things with one's hands and
sometimes these are ritually im-
pure. Furthermore there was a
specal sink in the sanctuary where
the priests washed themselves be-
fore performing their duties. The
sink in the entrance of a synago-
gue would represent this pheno-
menon in the temple of old. It
would also serve as a reminder
that one is required to be physically
clean before entering the sanc-
tuary, lest one bring dirt into the
sanctuary which is forbidden.
There were once some Jews who
would wear special shoes in the
synagogue because they were
afraid that their shoes would bring
dirt into the sanctuary and they
would thus be guilty of entering
the sanctuary in an unclean state.
All of this pointed to a need to
enter the sanctuary with rever-
ence and awe for the Almighty be-
fore whom none should appear in
an unclean manner. Many author-,
ities thus prohibited' .entering the
sanctuary with rubbers or galoshes
lest one bring mud or dirt into the
sanctuary. Furthermore, many pro-
hibited a person from praying with
rubbers or galoshes on one's feet.
This was an improper approach
to the Almighty since obviously
these footgear were unclean hav-
ing picked up the mud or rain or
snow from the street.
• • •
- Why do some synagogues feel
it necessary to start the Sabbath
morning services at a later time
than weekday morning services?
There are at least two reasons
given for this. Some contend that
the services begin later so that the
worshipers will get a chance to
sleep later. This is done in order
that the Sabbath be truly charac-
terized as a day of rest. Others say
that this is done because the Sab-
bath morning sacrifice in the Tem-
ple in the days of old was offered
after the daily 'sacrifice was offer-
ed. Since the prayers take the place
of the sacrifice they are held a
little later to indicate this.
• • *
Why is It forbidden to eat any-
thing before the kldush is recited
on the Sabbath?
The recitation of the Kidush sets
the tone for the meal and desig-
nates it as a special Sabbath meal
instead of an ordinary meal. What-
ever would be eaten before the
kidush would, therefore, not have
the character of the Sabbath meal.
Therefore, nothing is eaten before
the kidush.
• • •
Why Is it that the Iddush on
Saturday morning is much short-
er than the kidush recited on
Friday night?
The kidush on Saturday morning
does not include the portion from
the Bible which describes the con-
clusion of the creation of the world
and the rest o fthe Almighty on the
Sabbath. This is only recited on
Friday night because it was on Fri-
day afternoon that the work was
finished and not on Saturday morn-
ing. Thus, the elimination of this
reduces the size of the kidush. Also.
the basic part of the kidush is
changed to indicate that it is the
kidush for Saturday morning and
not Friday night.
If a man could have half his
wishes, he would double his trou-
bles.—Benjamin Franklin.
STAR-SPANGLED
SAVINGS
PLAN
to dig half a hole?
A. You cannot dig half a hole.
2. Q. What color la a drop of water?
A. Pink, pink, pink.
E. Q. What's the best thing for hives?
A. Bees.
0 1170, by Bennett Cerf. Distributed by Bing Features 8111dicals.
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441—FrIday, September 1$, MO
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Honoree Called a 'Union Buster'
NEW YORK (JTA) — The Tex-
Workers Union of America,
AFL-CIO, picketed a dinner at the
Americana Hotel given Sept. 9 by
the merchants council of the
United Jewish Appeal of greater
New York in honor of Robert T.
Stevens, executive committee
chairman of J. P. Stevens & Co.
The union protested the presen-
tation of an award for "humani-
tarian endeavor" to Stevens whom
it called the nation's "biggest
union buster."
Paul Swaity, the union's orga-
nizing director, said the protest
was aimed at calling public atten-
tion to the fact that Steven's
notorious antilabor record makes
him utterly unworthy of such an
honor at the hands of any organi-
zation that has a concern for
working people." Swaity said Ste-
vens had been cited by the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board 11
times in the past seven years for
illegal anti-union activity.
A spokesman for the UJA said
his organization had not been
approached by the TWU. "Our
knowledge of Stevens has been
in terms of his Philanthropic
efforts in our behalf," he said.
He noted that Stevens had been
a supporter of UJA as "far back
as anyone can remember" - and
has increased his support since
the Six-Day War. In 1968 he was
the guest of honor at a textile
industry dinner for UJA and in
1969 and 1970, he had served as
chairman of UJA's non-sectarian
community committee which is
tile
Importance of Man
One solitary man was brought
forth at the time of Creation in
order to establish God's greatness,
for when a human being uses one
die to stamp many coins, they
come out all alike, but God stamped
all men with the die of Adam, yet
each is different. Therefore every
man has a right to say, "For my
sake was the world created." .. .
It was done also in order to teach
that whoever destroys a single life
is as guilty as though be had de-
stroyed the entire world, and who-
ever rescues a single life earns as
much merit as thOugh he had res-
cued the entire world.—Sanhedrin.
composed mainly of non-Jewish
businessmen.
"In terms of what Stevens has
accomplished in our behalf," the
spokesman said, "our leaders feel
that he is eminently entitled to
the honors bestowed upon him."
William Pollock, TWU general
president, wired Israel's Premier
Golda Meir and the American
Trade Union Council for Histadrut
protesting the tribute to Stevens.
Politics makes strange postmas-
ters.—Ken Hubbard.
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