THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
34 Friday, July 4, 1975
Law of Shemitta Defined
By RABBI SAMUEL FOX
(Copyright 1975, JTA, Inc.)
Shemitta is the name
given to the sabbatical year
in the land of Israel. The Bi-
ble (Leviticus 25:1) com-
mands that the "earth shall
rest" every seventh year.
Thus it cannot be sown,
pruned, reaped or harvested
plus other agricultural ac-
tivities which are prohibited
by rabbinic law. Debts
which could possibly have
been collected before this
year are cancelled.
There are several reasons
for this special law. Some
say that this law demon-
strates our belief that the
Almighty created the world
and therefore He owns it.
By not working the land on
that year we show that we
relinquish our ownership of
the land to its true owner,
i.e., the Almighty.
Others say that in doing
this we acquire a certain
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quality of kindness and gen-
erosity. Since the needy can
therefore come and eat of
the produce of the land that
year we develop a certain
compassion for our fellow
man. It also demonstrates
that the land of Israel is
holy.
Furthermore, since one
does not work the land
that year one has the
chance to devote himself to
study and teach others.
Also, it teaches us to have
confidence in the Almighty
who provides for us that
year even if we do not
work the soil.
Man finally frees himself
from being too preoccupied
with his daily chores on the
land. Cancelling certain
debts spares man from
being forever pressed by fi-
nancial obligations.
It shows him generally,
that while he thinks he
owns everything, he indeed
owns nothing. He is only a
tenant of the Almighty and
has to share what he has not
only with the Almighty but
with all of the other crea-
tures of the Almighty. The
shemitta or sabbatical year
thus tends to make man
both humble and confident,
both concerned and secure.
Some have seen this to be a
most noble venture in equal-
ity.
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cANclids • MOVIES • PORTRAITS
Larry Adler of Rose
AZA and Gail Shifman of
Glazer BBG were installed
as presidents of the Great
Lakes AZA and BBG
Councils, respectively, at
the annual installations
held at Temple Emanu-El.
* * *
Installed with Gail Shif-
man and Larry Adler, presi-
dents of the Great Lakes
AZA and BBG Councils,
respectively, were: Aron
Weberman and Marc Hart
of Goode AZA, vice presi-
dents; Bruce Gorosh of Po-
sen AZA, teacher; Mike
Vine of Akiba AZA, trea-
surer; Paul Chatlin of
of Goode AZA, vice presi-
Callton of Goode AZA, re-
porter; and Lewis Check of
Posen AZA, counselor.
Other BBG Council offi-
cers are Sue Caplan of Gla-
zer BBG and Barbara Par-
ker of Kadimah BBG, vice
presidents; Linda Wolk of
Disraeli BBG, Mit-Mom;
Carol Nosanchuk of Disraeli
BBG, secretary; Julie Ritten
of Rappoport BBG, trea-
surer; Linda Nosanchuk of
Disraeli BBG, reporter; and
Sheri Aaron of Dalyah
BBG, counselor. Installa-
tion Chairmen were Jeff
Adler of Rose AZA and
Linda Nosanchuk of Dis-
raeli BBG.
Honored with the highest
individual achievement
award of BBG, the Gold
Star of Deborah, were:
Sheri Aaron of Dalyah
Beth Moses USY
Lists Activities
Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday
by appointment only
01" 17
Northland Center
Concourse Stairway X
(313) 358-1414 — 15
gaCkie oft
Cmof
Youth News
BBYO Business
Beth Moses United Syn-
agogue Youth will have a
beach party at Cass Lake,
meeting 9:30 a.m. Sunday at
the synagogue.
The group, together with
Bnai Moshe USY, will go to
Cedar Point July 13, meet-
ing 7 a.m. at Cong. Beth
Moses. Members are asked
to bring lunch; dinner will
be provided. There is a
charge. For reservations,
call Nancy Black, 548-2033,
or Sherrie Frank, 534-9376.
Beth Moses USY will at-
tend a Tiger baseball game
Aug. 11, meeting 6:30 p.m.
at the synagogue. The group
will see ShaNaNa Aug. 18 at
Pine Knob.
Demolay Chapter
Seeks Members
Mosaic Chapter of Demo-
lay is seeking new members.
The chapter is open to boys
13 to 21 years of age, and is
not restricted to the sons of
Masons.
Social, athletic and com-
munity programs are of-
fered to members. For in-
formation, call Alan
Finkelstein, 557-2624.
BBG; Sherry Grossinger
and Brenda Band of Masada
BBG; Lisa Moore of Disraeli
BBG; Lora Last of Szold
BBG and Laura Rogoff of
Zangwill BBG.
Silver Star of Deborah
recipients were: Jody Craig,
Judy Craig, and Audrey
Rogow of Dalyah BBG; Ad-
ina Borchardt and Pam
Lippa of Brice BBG; and
Gail Bronstein of Masada
BBG.
Honored with the bronze
Shield of David, the second
highest individual AZA
Award, was Gordon She-
wach of Goode AZA. The
award for the best BBG
scrapbook went to Disraeli
BBG and the AZA best
chapter award was won by
Goode AZA.
U.S. Youth to Join
Ulpan in Israel
Mitzvah Corps Aids Detroit
With Anti-Poverty Program
For the past eight years,
the Michigan State Temple
Youth has sponsored the
Mitzvah Corps, a six-week
anti-poverty program which
takes place during the sum-
mer in Detroit's inner-city.
In 1967, after a plea to all
regions in the National Fed-
eration of Temple Youth by
the Union of American He-
brew Congregations, to set
up Mitzvah Corps programs,
the MSTY Mitzvah Corps
began.
This summer, 10 Mitzvah
Corps workers will teach
their own classes for the
emotionally disturbed boys
Arab, Jewish
NEW YORK — Sixteen
high school students will Teenagers Meet
take part this summer in a for Seminars
youth ulpan in Israel, con-
JERUSALEM — A group
ducted by the National Jew-
of
75 teenagers from two
ish Welfare Board in coop-
eration with the American trade high schools recently
Zionist Youth Foundation, ended a seminar devoted to
to broaden their knowledge Arab-Jewish relations at
of modern conversational the Louise Waterman Wise
Youth Hostel in Jerusalem.
Hebrew.
The JWB Youth Ulpan,
Half of the participants
which is open only to stu- were Jewish students from
dents who have completed Hadera; half were Arab
the 10th, 11th, or 12th youngsters from the village
grades and have a basic con- of Tybe. All were citizens of
versational ability in Mod- Israel.
ern Hebrew, will be con-
ducted atop Mt. Carmel at
Despite the widely diver-
Bet Rutenberg in Haifa.
gent viewpoints that
marked their discussions,
they left Jerusalem ex-
Jewish Calendar changing addresses, promis-
ing to write and planning
Based on Moon
visits.
By RABBI SAMUEL FOX
(Copyright 1975, JTA, Inc.)
The calculation of the
months in the Jewish calen-
dar is based on a lunar sys-
tem of reckoning, thus mak-
ing the Hebrew calendar
essentially a lunar calendar.
The other alternative
would be to use the solar
calendar system through-
out. In the latter case the
months are rather arbitrar-
ily divided.
Some commentaries indi-
cate that using the natural
division of the months into
the phases of the moon (e.g.,
where a month begins with
every new moon) serves as a
means of encouragement
and optimism to the people.
In its appearance, the
moon "renews" itself every
month. This tends to con-
vince us that man can al-
ways "renew" those things
which he might have lost in
time. Thus the land of Israel
can be "renewed" to the
Jewish people even though
they were dispersed by ex-
ile. The dead can be "re-
newed" even though they
lost their lives in the strug-
gle with nature. •
Some claim that since the
moon can sometimes be
seen during the day as well
as night, it doesn't lose its
appearance even in the dark
night. This symbolizes the
immortality of man who is
to be witnessed both in this
world and in the next world.
The seminar — which
also included tours of Jeru-
salem and dancing and sing-
ing in the hostel's Steinberg
Pavillion — revived a project
initiated several years ago
by the hostel in cooperation
with the Israeli Ministry of
Education, the Government
Information Office and His-
tadrut to foster better un-
derstanding between Jews
and Arabs.
MaCk
RH
l
at St. Francis Home for
Boys in Detroit. The classes
will include French, Span-
ish, swimming, drama,
creative writing, library and
newspaper.
In the evening the group
will_ hold classes on urban
problems, urban economy,
sociology, education and
politics at the University
of Detroit.
Weekends for MSTY'i
are spend visiting differ
places of interest in Detroit,
such as the Eastern Market,
Belle Isle and the Ethnic
Festivals.
The goals of the program
are to help gain an under-
standing of people, help
underprivileged children,
and to gain insights into the
problems of the ghetto.
Blacks, whites, Jews
and non-Jews work to-
gether. For young children
to learn about Jews and to
work with them is an im-
portant experience. For
Jews to work in a non-
Jewish institution and for
Jews to work with black
children is also vital, Rick
Maisel, Mitzvah Corps di-
rector, noted.
Mitzvah Corps, the only
program of its type in the
country, receives most of its
operating funds from Michi-
gan Reform Jewish congre-
gations. The group is also
supported by the Detroit
Board of Education. For in-
formation, call Maisel,
626-1346.
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