36 Friday, September 14, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS INSIGHT `DANCE SOUNDS UNLIMITED DANCE PARTIES are our speciality, high Some key words from the Torah quality our performance. Outstanding in music, lighting, reaching and dance performance. For a complete evening of entertainment at your next party, Bar Mitzva, wedding or special occasion call 588-9499 BY SHELDON A. DORPH Special to The Jewish News 879-6165 Art and Jan Much as a gene carries critical characteristics from one genera- tion to another, so does the re- peated Hebrew word or phrase carry the eternal message of the Biblical text. Numerous Biblical scholars, noteworthy among them Cassuto and Robert Alter, have pointed to the use of these leitwor- ter — repeated words or phrases — in discovering the underlying messages of the text. This week, let us examine the leitworter within three seemingly unrelated consecutive Biblical passages in order to uncover an important underlying message: the relationship of memory to ob- servance and values. (These leit- worter are italicized in the pas- sages below.) In the first of these passages — Zachor Amalek — (Deuteronomy 25:17-19), the Children of Israel are exhorted, "Remember what Amelek did to you when you left Egypt. Undeterred by the fear of God, Amalek cut down the stragglers and weak among you. Therefore, when you receive the inheritance God gives you, don't forget Amalek! Blot out his mem- ory!" The second passage — Arami Oved Avi — (Deuteronomy 26:1- 11) directs the Israelites: When you arrive in the land which God gives you as an inheritance bring of the first fruits to the priest and recite before God: "My father was a lost Aramean who went down to Egypt . . . but God brought him out with a strong hand and great fearful power. He brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, I bring the first fruits of the land God gave me . ." And you shall rejoice for all the good God gave. you . . . with the Levite and stranger who is among you. In the third passage — Maaser — (Deuteronomy 26:12-15), each Israelite is directed to give a tithe every third year of the seven year Sabbatical cycle to the Levite, Call early for available open dates CUSTOM DESIGNED FURNITURE AT • U LOW PRICES M IM E M N 111111 111 111 • Shop out of your home at your con- venience 1111111111111 CREATIVE TABLES, INC. LTD. Call Vicky Leebove • Contemporary fur- niture: tables, wall units, bedrooms & desks in lucite, glass, laminates, marble & special orders 851-1089 Our Furs Are Aggressively Priced Sheldon Dorph is director of education at the Jewish Academy in Los Angeles and headmaster of the Golda Meir School. Applegate Square • 29665 Northwestern Hwy. • Southfield • 352-7112 EXPANSION SALE!!! cRaf-2fictEf's En7EftE, 9 International Jewelry Exchange in the Southfield Plaza VISA' 29758 Southfield Rd. masse' charge. A 557-6625 :$4.95 I STONE RINGS SPECIAL! 14 KT. Gold Herringbone 1 Bracelet layaways welcome 20 $ %off ALREADY: LOW PRICE I SO :OUR UR nl at RaOpha yel's I Booth #4 I I Booth #4 Only 1 I COUPONS EXPIRE 9-26-84 • ■ 00 off Watch I I I I (over $15) I I stranger, orphan and widow. You are to recite before God: "I have cleared out the consecrated por- tion from the house and given it to the Levite, stranger . . . I have not forgotten . . .! I have listened to my God's voice and done all which you commanded me. Look down from your consecrated abode and bless the land you gave us -- a land flowing with milk and honey." The summary verses (Deuteronomy 26:16-19) state that on this day your God com- mands you to obey these laws. You (the people of Israel) affirm that the Lord is your God and God affirms that you shall be a consec- rated people to Him. The three passages are linked and re-linked linguistically by these repeating words and phrases. The first verse of the sec- ond passage (26:1) echoes the last verse of the first passage (25:19) — "the land God gives you as an inheritance." Similarly, the first verse of the third passage (26:12) repeats and advances the last verse of the second (26:11) "the Levite and stranger in your midst." The leitworter — "leaving Egypt" (25:17) and "fear of God" (25:18) — are found in both the first and second passages (26:8). Key words in the second passage recite before the Lord" (26:5) and "a land flowing with milk and honey" (26:9) are repeated in the third passage (26:13 and 26:15). The summary passage (26:16-19) re-emphasizes the Hebrew root Amar — to declare or affirm and echoes the root Kadosh found in the third section (25:13). With all this noted, what is the underlying religious message of this rather complex literary structure? The first passage exhorts us: Zachor! — Remember! Recollect the suffering brought upon you by Amalek. When God fulfills His word to you, revenge the evil done to you. Don't forget! The second passage immediately changes the purpose of recollec- tion: Remember your past suffer- ing through a public recitation of it; Let those events become the basis for thanksgiving to God for the land and bounty which has been given you. The purpose of the historical recollection is no longer Parashat Ki Tavo: Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8, Isaiah 60:1-22 revenge but thanks for the bounty of the land. The third passage again changes and develops the purpose of recollection. In this passage the recollection no longer serves as the basis for personal thanksgiving alone; it becomes the catalyst for remembering to share the land's bounty with the downtrodden of one's own people and the stranger. And only then can one declare "I have not forgotten." We are entering the season of the Jewish year when we ask God to remember us for good — to re- member the covenant, to re- member the worthiness of our forefathers. Ki Tavo teaches us that remembering — like every- thing else in Judaism — is a two- sided obligation. Copyright 1984, National Havurah Committee NEWS U.S. to lease Israeli Kfirs Washington (JTA) — The United States will lease from Is- rael Kfir jet fighters to train Navi pilots in dogfighting, the Washington Post reported, cit- ing as its source "Pentagon offi- cials." According to the paper, a con- tract, expected to be signed by the Navy this week, calls for the United States to get 12 used Kfir Cl fighters and to pay Israel Air- craft Industries $68 million dur- ing 31/2 years to maintain them in this country. The Post also disclosed that the Navi will send pilots to Israel to be trained on the Kfir while Israel will send mechanics and other specialties to the Naval air sta- tion at Oceana, Va., to maintain the Israeli-made jets for the 3'/2- year period. The number of the American pilots to go to Israel is still unde- cided the paper said. One proposal calls for sending four instructor pilots and have them train other Navi pilots upon their return to the U.S. The other proposal calls for sending an entire Navi squadron to Israel for training, the Post said. According to the Post, Israel plans to send 15 Kfir specialists to Oceana and hire about 60-70 people for the maintenance team in the United States. Hospital to research Alzheimer's disease with new grants New York (JTA) — Two grants have been made by American organizations to advance the study of identification and treat- ment of Alzheimer's disease at the Jerusalem Mental Health Center-Ezrath Nashim's De- partment of Geriatric Research. The American Friends of the Jerusalem Mental Health Center said the Herman Goldman Foun- dation made a grant of $10,000 and the United Jewish Endow- ment Fund of the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Washington made a grant of $25,000.