78 Friday, November 2, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS NEW SUNDAY HOURS Idolatry " 1"°6P.m. GAYNORS "Where Fit is Foremost" Kosins Uptown Southfield Rd. at 111/2 Mile • 559-3900 11 Big & Tall With this week's Scriptural portion, we commence reading about the life of Abraham, our first Patriarch. If I were to ask anyone to describe Abraham's early life, doubtless, -stories con- cerning Abraham's fearless struggle against the idolatry of his age would be retold. Strangely enough however, the Bible omits entirely any mention of Ab- raham's childhood or young adulthood, and the account of Ab- raham's life begins with a corn- ORCHARD LAKE RD. 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Michigan 48226 mand issued to him by God to leave "his land, his birthplace and his kindred" for an unrevealed destination. The rabbinic legends which characterize Abraham's early life are replete with incidents con- cerning Abraham's staunch faith in the one, true God, and the war he waged against the convictions and beliefs of his times. It was not the form or content of the idolatr- ous religions to which Abraham objected most strenuously; it was the denial of truth which exasper- ated him the most. It was the self-delusion and self-deception of idolatry which irked him. For example, in one of the legends, we find Abraham in the role of an idol salesman. When approached by a woman for a par- ticular type of idol, Abraham asked her. "How old are you?" "Why, I am 50 years of age," an- swered the woman. "How ridicul- ous it is," retorted Abraham, that a woman who has seen 50 years of life should bow down to an idol which was made only yesterday." It is this type of "fooling oneself' that was characteristic of idol worship to which Abraham most vehemently protested. In truth, however, one might almost sympathize with the idolators of old. Steeped in mis- conceptions, they failed to grasp the lofty God idea which insisted that there was one supreme ruler over the entire universe and to Him alone must one pay homage. As a result, they felt a need for a more primitive type of worship. They adored and served idols which, in the words of the Psal- mist, "have a mouth but speak not, have eyes but see not, and have ears but hear not." Abraham endeavored to con- vince the idolators of their false beliefs and to raise their eyes heavenward. But, of course, Ab- raham was very much alone in his convictions during his time. Reli- gious thought and concepts have developed, however, with the ages. The God idea in Judaism has taken hold of man's spirit, and now, most of the world, be it through Judaism, Christianity or Mohammedanism, adheres to the belief in a Father in Heaven. It would seem that, as a result, idolatry would disappear from the scene, that the senselessness and idiocy of worshipping false gods would be obvious; that man, About Rabbi Gordon . Rabbi James I. Gordon has been the spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Oak-Woods for the past 21 years. He is one of the founders of Akiva Hebrew Day School and served as chairman of its Education Committee for the first ten years of its existence. Currently, Rabbi Gordon is vice president of the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Metropoli- tan Detroit and a member of the presidium of the Religious Zionists of Detroit (Mizrachi). He is a member of the govern- ing board of Jewish Welfare Federation and serves on its Commission on Education and Culture. He is a past member of the National Rabbinic Advi- sory Council of the United Jewish Appeal and is a former chairman of the Metropolitan Division and a past chairman of the Synagogue and School Section of the Allied Jewish Campaign. Rabbi Gordon has served on the executive committee of Jewish Community Council and is now a member of the executive of Jewish National Fund. He is a former national vice president of the Rabbini- cal Council of America and is currently a regional vice president of the Rabbinic Alumni of Yeshiva University. He is a former national president of the American Association of Correctional Chaplains. He served as a former editor of the Rabbinical Council of America's Sermon Manual and is a contributor to many jour- nals on Jewish thought. Rabbi Gordon attended Bos- tin Latin School and received • • Rabbi James Gordon his B.A. from Yeshiva Univer- sity. He was ordained by the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theolog- ical Seminary of Yeshiva Uni- versity. He holds a graduate degree in counseling from Ore- gon State College and an M.A. in psychology, with a certifi- cate in marriage counseling, from the University of Detroit. He was the principal of Pro- vidence Hebrew Day School in Rhode Island; served congre- gations in Portland, Ore. and Elmira, N.Y.; and was Hebrew chaplain of the New York State Reformatory in Elmira before joining Young Israel of Oak- Woods in 1963. Mrs. Gordon is the former Malka Susskind of the Bronx, New York. Rabbi and Mrs. Gordon have four children and two grandchildren.