42 Friday, March 29, 1985 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 0 1:X XIMCCICCI The producers and distributors of TORAH PORTION Shabbat Hagodol! Setting The Tone For Passover BY RABBI JAMES I. GORDON Special to The Jewish News are pleased to announce that this year, as in the past, under special arrangements, we have produced and are marketing throughout Michigan and Northern Ohio, the finest quality of KOSHER FOR PASSOVER noel, CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM an= VANILLA ICE CREAM , Certified Kosher by Rabbi Jack•Goldman, Administrator of the Metropolitan Kashruth Council of Michigan We take this opportunity to extend to the entire Jewish community best wishes for a Happy and Healthy Passover celebration. Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results Place Your Ad Today. Call 354 6060 - "WE ARE REALLY MORE THAN AN OFFICE STORE" Sheila Weinbaum- Prenzlauer We have a decorator on our staff who can help "redo" or just "freshen" up your office or home at great savings to you. We carry carpeting, wallpaper, drapes, furniture and every accessory to complete the "look." Call Sheila for assistance 399-9830 10600 Galaxie, Ferndale, Mich. 48220 Crossing the Red Sea: As Passover draws near, the Torah explains the concepts of freedom. The Sabbath prior to Pesach is called "Shabbat Hagodol" because of the great miracle that occurred on that day. In the year of the Exodus from Egypt, the tenth of Nissan occurred on the Sabbath. It was on this day that the Al- mighty commanded the children of Israel to prepare a lamb for the sacrifice on the 14th of the month. This was an especially defiant act on the part of the Children of Israel. The lamb was deified as an object of worship by the Egyp- tians; and indeed, Aries (lamb) was the Zodiacal sign of the very month of Nissan. Yet, instead of severe reprisals against this per- fidious act, the Egyptians ac- cepted it with meek resignation. This miraculous occurrence sets the tone for an understanding of the message of freedom inher- ent in the holiday ofPesach. There are, in truth, two freedoms: physi- cal freedom and spiritual emanicipation. The author of the Haggadah states it well when he says, "He brought us forth from servitude to freedom and from darkness to light." The first is a prerequisite to the second. Being set free from Egypt was a prologue to the ultimate recognition and acceptance of God's law at Sinai. All holidays feature some dis- tinctive performance of a mitzvah. Blowing a shofar, fast- ing, sitting in a succah or taking a lulov but Pesach in addition to eating matzah and moror has an additional mitzvah of Haggadah - telling, narrating, speaking. Rabban Gamliel used to say "Whoever does not discuss three things on Passover has not kept his obligation (of the Seder) prop- erly. They are: the Paschal Lamb, the matzah, and the bitter herbs. The Torah underscores several times the utilization of narration toward a deeper appreciation of this important holiday. "And you shall tell your son on that day say- ing;" "When your child will ask . . . and you shall say unto him;" "In order that you may relate into the ears of your children." There is a basic lesson of pedag- ogy associated with Passover. Verbal theorizing must be com- bined with concrete acts. The Seder combines the two but the idea of freedom began with the miracle of Shabbat Hagodol. It was an act of independence in order to assert that physical free- Tzav Shabbat Hagadol: Leviticus 6:1-8:36. Malachi 3:4-24. dom is not enough, the goal lies in spiritual emancipation. To develop a generation of chil- dren spiritually alive and truly free we must be cognizant of the message that speaks not only from "servitude to freedom" but from "darkness to light." Electric Firm Fined For Bias Amsterdam (JTA) — The Amsterdam Higher District Court has imposed a fine of 750 Guilders (about $200) on a local electrical company for certifying that two of its employees sent on a project to Saudi Arabia were not Jewish. The case developed two years ago when the firm, Flakt, stated, in its application for Saudi visas, that the employees' religion was Christian and that they had no relations with Israel. A complaint of racial discrimi- nation was lodged by the Center for Information and Documenta- tion on Israel (CIDI) under an amendment to the criminal code dating from 1981. Visitation Hours Cong. Shaarey Zedek Beth Olam Cemetery will be open for pre-Passover visitation Sunday, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.