80
Friday, December 6, 1985
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
LABOR OF JOY
To all our
Friends & Clients
A
Happy, Healthy
HANUKA
EXCALIBUR
Hair Styling Salon
BY PHILLIP GOREN
I am surfacing on the ocean
of knowledge
Constantly looking for
wisdom to nourish my
soul
The harsh sounds of the
twisting waves
A longing for learning is
my goal
The stormy and colorful
surroundings
The shining rays above me
are delightful and clear
Hours and contentment
fulfill my days
With books all around me
what more is there for me
to say
So the swinging pendulum
of life each day I strive
Learning opens my eyes
Does that make a person
wise?
TORAH PORTION
Jewish Presence: Heavy
Emphasis On Spiritual
BY RABBI IRWIN GRONER
Special to The Jewish News
Joseph, seated at center, telling his dreams in a 1638 etching by
Rembrandt.
One of the most common misconceptions about poultry is that the only difference
between a kosher chicken and a non-kosher one is the processing. Extra care in the
processing is certainly an important part of the kosher food story but when it comes
to poultry, it is not the complete story...especially if you're talking about Empire Kosher
Poultry!
At Empire Kosher Poultry the extra care in breeding, hatching, growing and feeding
are very important parts of the kosher chicken story. This special attention to breeding
and growing special birds has set the Empire Kosher Chicken apart from other chick-
ens, kosher and non-kosher.
Over the past couple. decades, poultry breeders throughout the world have made
great strides in developing faster growing birds...birds with larger breasts, smaller legs
and wings. These new breeds are very attractive financially: however, they have not
shown themselves to be acceptable for Empire's use.
The fast growing breeds of broilers have a marked tendency to gain excessive
fat, both under the skin and in the abdominal area. Another recognized problem is the
smaller legs and wings which are weaker and easily develop tissue and tendon tears.
We at Empire have resisted switching to the new. faster growing chickens largely
because of these problems , plus the fact that our breed has a natural , savory taste
that none of the quick growing breeds can duplicate.
Even though we could realize a tremendous saving by switching to these faster
growing breeds, we at Empire, feel that we have a legacy to live up to. Joe Katz,
founder of Empire Kosher, taught us to make the best, not the cheapest. We believe
that you. the customer, should be getting the best chicken possible...and you can be
sure that we, at Empire Kosher Poultry, will continue to strive to provide that
chicken for you.
We Breed them.We Hatch them.We Feed them.
We Process them.We Deliver them.We Guarantee them to
be of Kosher quality and taste like Kosher Poultry should!
KOSHER
Empire
1 (900) EMPIRE -4
POULTRY
The Biblican narration of
Joseph is one of the most stir-
ring success stories ever told. It
traces the meteoric career of a
slave boy who rises from the
depths of degradation to the
throne of a Monarch. The
greater drama, however, is not
in the outward achievements,
but in the inner growth and de-
velopment of Joseph.
One of his most noteworthy
triumphs is his overcoming the
temptation to betray his master,
Potiphar, by yielding to the ad-
vances of his wife. Joseph resists
that attempted seduction. The
Sages of old sought to account
for Joseph's moral strength.
What fortified Joseph's will to
overcome the most powerful of
impulses, particularly when he
was virtually alone in a strange
land, cut off from his family,
friends, community and coun-
try? Rashi comments, basing his
interpretation on Rabbinic
sources, that suddenly, the
image of his father, Jacob, ap-
peared to Joseph in that mo-
ment of testing. The remembr-
ance of his father gave Joseph
the strength to resist.
Jacob was present to Joseph,
in a spiritual sense, even though
they were separated by many
hundreds of miles, and at that
time, Joseph had no way of
knowing whether he would ever
see his father again. What does
it mean to be present and what
does genuine presence imply?
Henri Bergson once wrote "A
body is present wherever its
influence is felt." Presence
means the power to influence,
penetrate, and transform the life
of the other. It also means a
willingness to be open enough,
to be influenced by, to be pene-
trated by, and even to be
changed by that experience.
This is a description of what
takes place in the deepest levels
of love, fiendship and human in-
timacy.
Sometimes we carry the
presence of men or women of
other generations with us. We
find our true contemporaries in
figures out of the past who are
intensely present to us, and we
know them to be our own. As we
approach the festival of
Chanukah, we remember the
courage of the Maccabees, and
their faith is renewed in our
own lives.
Sociologists and historians
have attempted to interpret and
explain the uniqueness of the
Jewish value system: The em-
phasis on learning; the sanctity
of the family; the moral passion
Vayesgev: Genesis
32:1-40:23. Amos
2:6-3:8.
that animates Jewish participa-
tion in social causes and liberal
movements. They generally
overlook the compelling reason
for these traits. The Jew is the
classic illustrator of the fact
that those who are truly present
to us shape our character. Jews
have lived in thought and spirit
(or at least they did) with
Moses, Elijah, Amos, Judah
Maccabee, Hilel, Akiva,
Maimonides and the Gaon of
Vilna. These were the contem-
poraries of the Jewish people
wherever they dwelt, no matter
how brutish their environment,
how squalid their surroundings,
how barbaric their oppressors,
how corrupt their society.
Are we truly present to those
whose paths cross ours, to those
in whose midst we live, to those