- 38 Friday, October 19, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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Bereshit in the beginning
BY RABBI IRWIN GRONER
Special to The Jewish News
Editor's note: This article com-
mences a weekly column on the
Sabbath Torah portion of the week
which will be written alternately
by Rabbi Irwin Groner of Cong.
Shaarey Zedek, Rabbi James I.
Gordon of Young Israel of Oak-
Woods and Rabbi M. Robert Syme
of Temple Israel.
This Sabbath, the Jewish
people begin again the yearly
cycle of reading the most impor-
tant book in the world, the Torah.
The Bible is filled with paradox.
Its truths are stated in the form of
stories, parables and myths which
are so simple that even little chil-
dren can understand them and
take delight in their charm. And
yet, the insights of the Torah are
so profound that even the most
brilliant of scholars cannot fully
explicate their meaning.
The Bible has another
paradoxal aspect. It is generally
considered the Book of God. And
yet, this book tells us far more
about man than it does about God.
The opening sentences of the
Bible do not present us with a per-
suasive argument for God's exist-
ence, or describe His essence, or
attempt to define His being. In
the beginning, God." God's exist-
ence, power, and creative spirit is
assumed, in the same way that
the sky and the sun and the earth
are evident to all who see and hear
and experience. The Bible affirms
that God exists; and He has made
His will known to man. Beyond
those two statements, we have lit-
tle else.
But the issue with which the
Torah grapples in every chapter is
"What is man?" The way we an
swer this question affects 1:,11
society in which we live, the nS1
ture of our conduct, the mor -
choices we make, and the de
1
velopment of our character.
The rabbis of old ask a funds
Bereshit:
Genesis 1:1-6:8.
Isaiah 42:5-43:10.
mental question about the cre,
tion story. Why was only one mall
Adam, created? God create
swarms of living creatures, 1-1-
creatures of the sea, and the b(
asts, and the animals and all t1_
move across the earth. God eve
took dust and created one mar
Why not an entire race?
They offer several interpl
tions, each of which conveys
enduring moral truth. First, t
act teaches the significance
sanctity of a human life. Evi -
human being is a world in hi
self. Thus, when a person destro
one soul, it is as though he caus
the world to perish. Conversel
he who saves a single soul is cr
dited with saving the who
world.
Totalitarian states make
their citizens slaves of the polit
cal- order. Man is a tool of the di
tator or a victim of the tyrant, dr
sub-human species subject to e
termination. But the BibleA
dares that each person is bo
with a dignity that cannot be
nied or rejected. No power o
About Rabbi Grone r .•.
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-
Rabbi Irwin Groner
Rabbi Irwin Groner is
spiritual leader of Cong.
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield.
He is the elected secretary of
the Rabbinical Assembly of
America, the association of
1,200 Conservative rabbis and
chairs the Domestic Affairs
Committee of the Synagogue
Council of America. He was re-
cently appointed by Governor
James Blanchard to the Judi-
cial Tenure Commission.
Rabbi Groner is a member of
the Board of Governors of the
Jewish Welfare Federation of
Detroit; the Rabbinical Advi-
sory Council of the United
Jewish Appeal; and the board
of the United Synagogue. He
served as chairman of the Rab-
binical Assembly conventions
of 1976 and 1977. He was co!"
chairman of the National
Youth Commission of the
United Synagogue from 1972-
1976. He held the position of
vice president of the Jewis
Community Council of Detroit
from 1974-1976.
He was the co-chairman of
the editorial advisory commit-
tee for The New Mahzor (High
Holiday Prayer Book) pubt-
lished in 1977.
Rabbi Groner has been
actively involved in programs,
of interfaith dialogue in the
Metropolitan Detroit commu-
nity.
Rabbi Groner has degree
from the University of Chicago
and the Hebrew Theological
College of Chicago, where he
was ordained, and an honorary
Doctor of Divinity degree from
the Jewish Theological Semi-
nary. His first pulpit was in
Little Rock, Ark. where hd
served as rabbi of Agudath
Achim Congregation.
He came to Shaarey Zedek <
1959 as assistant rabbi. He was
named senior rabbi in 1967. In
1978, he was elected rabbi of
Shaarey Zedek for life.
He and his wife, Leypsa,
have three children, Deborah,
David and Joel. ,
'
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