THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 60 Friday, May 11, 1984 FOCUS Toronto Jewish SINGLES Weekend JULY 5th-8th You'll meet the riicest people, 30's and up, Dine, Dance, Swim, $90. — Canadian, plus hotel. Fred Wolff, 164 Lyndhurst Ave., Toronto, Canada M5R 2Z9.' (416) 923-4303 or 638-0202. •• • • • • • Torah principles and the Golden Rule • • • • • • • • • • • • • Jewish Community Center Singles Trip to Israel BY IRVING GREENBERG Special to The Jewish News June 16-27, 1984 • Total Price Per Person Only $1,399.00 INCLUDES: Accommodations In double • • Round trip air Detroit - Tel Aviv - Detroit. • Meeting and assistance at Ben Gurion Airport In Tel Aviv on arrival and departure • Transfers. • Porterage and entrance fees • Tours conducted by deluxe, air-conditioned coach by licensed government guide. New York Is there one great principle from which the whole Torah can be de- rived? Can the traditional 613 mitzvot (command- ments) and the thousands of stories, parables, and say- ings in the Jewish tradition be boiled down to one es- sence that captures it all? This possibility has chal- lenged rabbis in every gen- rooms (If you are alone we ask to match you). • Israeli breakfast all along. • Boatride on the Sea of Galilee & ascencion to Masada by cable car. • Interview with (Hello Jerusalem) cable television program. • A folklore eve on the last day day's stay in Jerusalem. Ask for our Israel Specialist: Suzy Goldsmith — NEDERLANDER TRAVEL CORPORATION 30300 Teleoraph Aa Sude 143 9,(minpham M145010 • 13131540 0440 Outstare 1800139? 2515 Daily 8 a.m - 7 p m • Sat. 9 a.m - 5 p.m. • Sun. 11 a.m - 4 p.m. CALL US! WI SPECIALIZE IN ALL DOMESTIC I, INTERNATIONAL VACARION TRAVEL FOR THE LOWEST RATES ON ALL YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS •• • • • • • • • r RYKE TRAVEL 356-8400 iMilliMMilinall."11M1.1.6111.1 AIM" ' GOING ON VACATION? ' CALL H.M.H.F. 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INSTANT ORGANIZATION OF GROUP TOURS PLANNING OF INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMS SPECIAL ITINERARIES FOR ORGANIZATIONS COLOR PASSPORTS & VISA PHOTOS PROFESSIONAL PORTRAIT LIGHTING ASK FOR OUR SPRING & SUMMER BROCHURE FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL YOUR TRAVEL AGENT ■ KOSHER KOSHER TOURS ■ 1501 BROADWAY NY NY 10036 (212) 921-7740 (800) 847-0700 1352-70301 LEO KNIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY 26511 W. 12 Mile Rd. Cower Nor western Hwy. eration, and more than one has offered a personal summation. The classic one was ex- pressed when a non-Jew promised to convert to Judaism on condition that Hillel teach the entire Torah "on one foot." The great scholar replied: "What is hateful to you, do not do to another. This is the Torah in its entirety." Hillel then added: "All the rest is commentary. Go and learn." (Talmud, Shabbat 31.) Rabbi Akiba, one of the greatest Talmudic scholars, considered the essence of the Torah to be found in Leviticus: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). Rabbi Akiba said: "This is a great principle in the Torah" (Sifra 89). Akiba implied two things here. One, the essential purpose of the Torah is to bring people to ethical ac- tion that grows out of love of another human being; and two, all the rituals, prayers, and holy days must be un- derstood as rnitzvot nurtur- ing or expressing the ethical imperative. Even the most formal and seemingly irra- tional ritual is designed to sensitize the human being to greater love and concern for others. It is up to us to discover the connection be- tween the ritual and its un- derlying purpose. Another Talmudic pas- sage sees the essence of the Torah as imitatio dei, to emulate God. "(You shall) walk in all God's ways." Says the Sifra: "The mean- ing is to follow the attri- butes of the Holy One. Just g..(kci.is,,613-ribas1Rifitterta "'DA- be compassionate and gra- cious; just as the Holy One is righteous, so, too, shall you be righteous; just as the Holy One is loving, so should you be loving." Here the emphasis is on the model for the type of human being the Torah seeks to de- velop. The 19th Century Rabbi Israel Salanter sum- marized it: "The Torah was given to make a person a mentsch." Rabbi Ben-Azzai dis- agreed with Akiba's sum- mary of the Torah as the Golden Rule: "The verse, `This is the book of the gen- erations of the human (race) in the day God created the human in the image of God . . " (Genesis 5:1), he said, "is even greater" (Sifra 89B). In Ben-Azzai's view, the bedrock of the Torah is that the human being was created in the image of God. As images of God, each human being has infinite value. This is why the Tal- mud says, "If you save one life, it is like saving a whole world." Each image of God is equal. There is no pre- ferred image of God. Nor does God have any color or gender. And while human-made images such as stamps or coins all re- semble each other, each image of GO'd is unique. If you've seen one, you haven't seen 'em all. In Ben-Azzai's view, the Torah's call is to create more human beings in the Living as we do after the Holocaust, the concept of the image of God has greater urgency and meaning for us than ever. image of God, to treat all with infinite value and equality — and to structure political, social and eco- nomic reality to make this possible. __Without food and shelter, without medicine, without justice, and without equality, human beings are denied their infinite value. Furthermore, the world itself must be perfected so that society can wish as well as afford to treat each per- son with total dignity. Thus, societal justice is a central concern of Judaism. The Messianic age is one of peace, prosperity, and jus- tice which will pave the way for the full flowering of human relationships and spirituality. . - rituarrn &Toni's_ view, no vorced from the creation of images of God, however un- related to this ethos that it might seem. Kashrut teaches the sacredness of all life, which engenders rever- ence for human life. Restric- tions on planting certain grains together or mixing certain textiles in weaving teach respect for the uniqueness of each species. Shabbat teaches that hu- mans have intrinsic value even when not actively engaged in producing mate- rial goods. Living as we do after the Holocaust, the concept of the image of God has greater urgency and mean- ing for us than ever. In an era which witnessed mass murder without divine in- tervention, the best way of expressing religious con- sciousness is not to talk about God but to create im- ages of God that testify to the presence of the Divine, whose image they are. In an era when Jewish children were burned alive to save a half-penny's worth of gas, the fundamental religious act is to restore the infinite value of every human being. Anything that degrade* — poverty, sickness, op- pression; anything t sults — stereotypes, udices, inequality — cannot be accepted. To mend the world, there must be a new primary to the commitment_ to restore the image of Go& and to create the conditions that nurture the infinite value of each and every in- dividual. This is why people everywhere demand dignity and refuse to accept that the conditions they were born into will destine them for nasty, brutish, and short lives. This, too, is why Jews created Israel as well as an unparalled structure of philanthropy to rescue and rehabilitate the oppressed. Observant Jews are chal- lenged to lead people to the essence of the Torah through the myriad of Non- Jewish mitzvot. observant Jews are chal- lenged to discover the ways._ in whth the infinite value of the human being needs to be — and can be — nurtured by tradition. All the rest is commen- tary — a commentary writ- ten with out actions. The way we treasure life, the way we help others, the communities we create are our ,expressions of the es- sence of the Torah and of the renewal of Jewish hope after the Holocaust. Copyright 1984, the National Jewish Resource Center. Irving Greenberg is president of the National Jewish Resource Center. MENTALLY RETARDED CITIZENS ARE GREAT NEIGHBORS They want to help you, too! Support Jewish Association for Retarded Citizens 24525 Southfield, Rd., Suite 107 Southfield, Mi. 48015 557-7650 A Public Service Contribution