THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Telethon prelude to closing
of Allied Jewish Campaign
The Staff of
joe cornell
Dance Studio
Four days before the closing celebration of the Allied Jewish
Campaign, General Chairman Jack A. Robinson, right, and
volunteers Helen Ring and Alan Mann joined in a final
effort to reach every potential contributor.
Torah Portion: Acharei Mot'
A Good Beginning
Editor's Note: With this col-
umn, coordinated by the Na-
tional Havurah Committee,
The Jewish News begins a
regular "Devar Torah" (or,
words of Torah) article to
correspond to the Torah por-
tion read in the synagogue
each Sabbath.
The National Havurah
Committee is a diverse
cross-denominational net-
work of people seeking to
enhance their Jewish lives.
The purpose of this column
is to offer a variety of points
of view by rabbis, scholars
and lay people. The articles
are not offered as the final
word on a given subject, but
rather to generate discus-
sion and response.
BY FRANCESCA LUNZER
The Book of Leviticus is a
difficult one to comprehend.
A good portion of it is de-
voted to laws concerning
sacrifices. Despite
Maimonides' view that God
commanded us to offer sac-
rifices to Him as a way of
weaning Israel away from
the idol worship of their
neighbors, the command to
sacrifice is hard to under-
stand. Yet despite the com-
plexity of both the philos-
ophy and actual command-
ments in Leviticus, the
Midrash tells us that in an-
cient times it was the first of
the Five Books of Moses to
be taught to children.
"Little children are pure
and sacrifices are pure, let
those who are pure occupy
themselves with pure
things." This week's por-
tion, Acharei Mot, teaches
us what children for all gen-
erations need to know, that
the sacrifices themselves
didn't atone for sins unless
they were brought with true
and full repentance.
The service of the High
Priest of the Day of Atone-
ment is detailed in Acharei
Mot. In addition to the sac-
rifices that he had to bring,
the day included fasting,
prayer and repentance.
Those requirements, how-
ever, were not just for the
time of the Temple. The
Francesca Lunzer is a
member of the board of di-
rectors of Project DOROT.
This Dvar Torah is written
in memory of Jay Safler.
phrase "Sabbath of solemn
rest" repeats. Why? One ex-
planation is that fasting
and cessation of work were
to continue even when there
were no longer priestly
ceremonies.
Some commentaries be-
lieve that the Day of
Atonement not only sur-
vived the High Priesthood
but that it gained in in-
wardness and spiritual
power with the passing of
the sacrifices. The rites in
the Temple were only the
symbol. The actual service,
the one passed down to us, is
fasting, prayer and contri-
tion for one's sins.
Maimonides tells us that
the rabbis stressed that
without repentance, sac-
rifices had no value and,
therefore, once they were no
longer a part of the service,
repentance was left as the
sole means of atoning for
one's sins. Many hoped that
this would continue to be
the sole means of repen-
tance and that as time
passed human behavior
would take on a higher
standard. Then there would
no longer be a need for sac-
rifices of forgiveness.
The Midrash tells us that
"in the Messianic era, all of-
ferings will cease, except
the thanksgiving offering
which will continue
forever."
Acharei Mot also teaches
us that it is not just sins
against God which require
full repentance, but those
against man as well.
Atonement cannot be done
for sins against one's
neighbor unless forgiveness
is asked from that person.
No sacrifice atoned for this,
and no sacrifice atoned for
sins against God without
prayer, charity and resolve
to do better.
With the training wheels
of sacrifices gone, perhaps
temporarily, we're given an
opportunity to rely fully on
our own selves as vehicles
for forgiveness, and, there-
fore, to act, and ask forgive-
ness, with full hearts and
minds. Not a bad lesson
with which to start off the
Torah lessons of children.
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