THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, January 25, 1985
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The Importance Of Time
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BY RABBI JAMES I. GORDON
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Special to The Jewish News
People tend to measure time by
the setting and rising of the sun,
by minutes and hours. They
should think of time in terms of
accomplishments. Henri Bergson,
the great French philosopher, de-
scribed "quantitative time" as
measures of the clock and the
calendar, and "qualitative time"
is measured with accom-
plishments.
One who is dissatisfied and
bored is usually concerned with
quantitative time — "That ser-
mon was 21 minutes long!" One
who is interested and curious is
Bo:
Exodus 10:1-13:16.
Jeremiah 46:13-28.
usually concerned with qualita-
tive time — "That sermon taught
me a great deal!"
It is the knowledge of the im-
portance of time that prompted
the Jews to accept the mitzvah of
"Rosh Chodesh" as the very first
mitzvah upon their redemption.
Indeed, it was so important for the
preservation of the House of Israel
that God instructed Moses to tell
it to the Jews before they left the
land of Egypt. Rabbi Yishmael
put into the words of God the
phrase, Tzeh ve'emor lahem
miyad! — "Go out, and tell them
immediately."
But it is not merely "telling"
time which God hurried to tell the
Jews. It was tbe fact that though
the ticking of the clock, the min-
utes and the hours, were ordained
by God, it was man's duty to make
something of the time, to endow it
with substance, to spend it qual-
itatively. And so the Bible tells us,
hachodesh hazeh lachem — "this
month is for you."
And the rabbis deduced from
this that the hallowing of time,
the sanctification of the monthly
cycle, was in the hands of men, not
decided by the court on High but
by the court on earth. Kiddush
Hachodesh is not performed by
the Almighty but by us, human
beings. But the rabbis wisely note
that not all human beings are
capable of hallowing time. They
say that since this law as given to
Moses and Aaron, and not to the
masses, only men of the caliber of
Moses and Aaron will be capable
of sanctifying the months. The
average person has to reach great
heights before he fully under-
stands the counting of time by
achievements and the endowing
of time with holiness, through
prayer and the pursuit of high
ideals. For this the Jews required
courts on which sat mumchim,
experts in the handling of time.
As very tangible proof of the
fact that Moses called for qualita-
tive time, and not merely count-
ing of days, was the fact that the
Jews adopted the names of their
months, Missan, Iyar, Sivan and
so forth, in exile. They imported it
from Babylon, but it was not na-
tive or original with the Jews who
came out of Egypt. Those Jews did
not merely pass months, naming
them, nodding their heads, and
going on. They numbered their
months from the Ge'ulah, the re-
demption from Egypt. And every
month they recalled the hallowed
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Folksinger Due
At Temple Israel
Amy Sebran, folk singer, poet
and composer, will present a Ser-
mon inSong at Sabbath services
at Temple Israel at 8 p.m. today.
Her presentation, entitled
"Thank You for the Rainfall," will
be a highlight of the annual
Youth Group Sabbath, which will
offer an original Sabbath service
dedicated to social justice and con-
temporary concerns:
Ms. Sebran, the daughter of a can-
tor, is presently a student at Phil-
lips University in Oklahoma.
She has appeared in a film pro-
duced by the National Conference
of Christians and Jews, and she
has appeared in concert through-
out the country.
She is presently studying music
therapy for retarded children, and
was recently contralto soloist in a
university performande of Vival-
di's Gloria.
The - service is being arranged
under the direction of Michelle
Sage, Youth Group religious vice
president.
A shul-in will follow the serv-
ice.
David Newman
•
The inaugural service in the
new sanctuary at-Cong. Beth Ab-
raham Hillel Moses will take
place at 8:45 a.m. Saturday.
Robert S. Naftaly, director, de-
partment of management and
budget of the state of Michigan
and Jewish communal leader, will
speak for Federation Shabbat.
David Newman, whose bar
mitzvah took place in the Chris-
tian Science Church, on the Shab-
bat following the fire which de-
stroyed the sanctuary, will be
given the honor of chanting the
Haftorah. Also participating in
the service will be Wayne Segal,
reading the Torah, and Alan
Light, reciting the Ashrei.
Rabbi A. Irving Schnipper and
Cantor Ben-Zion Lanxraer and the
synagogue choir will officiate at
the service.
A kiddush reception will follow
the service. All are welcome.
Tickets are still available for
the cabaret — musical evening at
Cong. B'nai Moshe slated for 8
p.m. Saturday. The program,
"With a Song in Our Hearts," will
feature vocal and instrumental
renditions of songs by Jewish
composers written for the Ameri-
can stage.
The performers include Cantor
Louis Klein and the Shira Sin-
gers, comprised of members of the
Sisterhood Choral Ensemble and
the B'nai Moshe Men's Choir. Do-
reen Raskin will accompany at
the piano and Miriam Ciesla is
the flutist. The narrator is Ronna
Rosenbaum.
The community is invited for an
evening of wine, cheese, refresh-
ments and music. Tickets will be
available at the door.
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Oneg Shabbat
Young Israel of Greenfield will
sponsor an Oneg Shabbat for
college-age adults at 8:15 p.m.
today in the home of Rabbi and
Mrs. Reuven Drucker, 15642 Hil-
ton, Southfield. Food, discussion
and song will highlight the eve-
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B'nai Moshe Has
Cabaret Tickets
Family Shabbat
Observance
At Beth Achim
Cong. Beth Achim will host its
First Family "Spirit of Shabbat
Dinner." on Feb. 1. The program
will begin with a special service in
the main sanctuary beginning at
6:30 p.m.
The service will focus on creat-
ing a Shabbat atmosphere. It will
include readings, prayers and
songs relating to the Shabbat.
Members of the congregation and
children from Beth Achim's youth
groups will participate in the
service.
Following the service there will
be a family-style Shabbat dinner.
A short program building on the
evening's theme, "The Spirit of
Shabbat" will highlight the
dinner.
The program is coordinated by
Beth Achim's Membership Com-
mittee.
For reservations, call Cong.
Beth Achim, 352-8670. Reserva-
tions and payments must be re-
ceived by Monday.
memory of the greatness of God
who redeemed them from slavery.
They spent qualitative time,
and in that way insured that their
nation would be eternal; the vast
numbers of years would not make
the old, but keep them very crea-
tive in the history of mankind.
This is a strong clue to long life
of the Jews. They did not number
their hours or count their days.
They considered themselves a
People of God; eternal and crea-
tive. Their kingdom will never be
ended.
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