Cr . 1 • 18 Friday, February 7, 1986 • THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS e HOUSE CALLS MADE FOR NAIL AND FOOT CARE DR. SEYMOURE BALAJ Foot Specialist NaWni Salts • • ) UP TO OFF ON ALL FALL & WINTER FASHIONS ADVANCE FASHIONS 50% 10 Mile & Greenfield New Orleans Plaza 352-4723 569-4030 your advertising dollars do better in THE JEWISH NEWS Call Us Today! 354-6060 CUSTOM ENLARGEMENTS x 5 or 5 x 7 IN ONE HOUR P H 0 R A P H Y • B A C K & WHITE CIBACHROME PRINTS FROM SLIDES Say "CHAI" in February ...AND "HI" TO A WONDERFUL NEW EXPERIENCE! 30 DAY FAMILY MEMBERSHIP $18*/0-11A1 30 DAY INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP $12* INCLUDES ALL J.C.C. FACILITIES AND PROGRAMS (HEALTH CLUB NOT INCLUDED). LIMITED NUMBER OF MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE. JOIN ANY DAY IN FEBRUARY FOR 30 DAYS. MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES Racquetball Squash FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL THE MEMBERSHIP DEPT. 661.1000, EXT. 166 Tennis (court tee) • 6600 W. MAPLE ROAD WEST BLOOMFIELD 15110 W. TEN MILE ROAD OAK PARK Swimming Running/Walking Tracks Weight Room Library Member Rates on Classes and Special Events Baby Sitting Available (tee) JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT TORAH PORTION Placing Lofty Ideals Into Our Daily Routine BY RABBI IRWIN GRONER Special to The Jewish News A story is told about a young man who was passionately courting his young lady, offering to her his protestations of love. "I would go through fire and water for you," he said. "Indeed, I would travel to the ends of the earth to fulfill your every wish. By the way," he concluded, "I'll see you next Thursday, if it doesn't rain." It is not difficult to proclaim great principles, but we have all experienced the human ten- dency to fail the, test of specific response. We accept moral ideals, but we shy away from the necessary efforts required for their achievement. We don't stumble over mountains, but over pebbles. It is precisely this truth, the importance of the daily realities of life, that is emphasized in the sidrah of this Sabbath. Last week we read of how the Children of Israel heard the Ten Commandments proclaimed at Mt. Sinai in the midst of thun- der and lightning, fire and smoke. This Sabbath, the text presents an entirely different mood and spirit. Immediately following the declaration of the Ten Great Words, we learn about the small and specific de- tails of daily living. We discover cows and donkeys, loans and bailments. After having been uplifted to the heights of wit- nessing the Divine presence and hearing the voice of the Al- mighty, we encounter an incon- gruous enumeration of statutes and laws dealing with the ordi- nary and undramatic episodes of daily existence. Consider these ordinances: "If a man shall open a pit, or if he shall dig a pit and not cover it, and an ox or a donkey shall fall therein, the owner of the pit shall be responsible ... If a per- son borrow an animal from his neighbor and the animal is in- jured or it dies, the borrower shall make restitution ... You must not carry false rumors; you shall not join hands with the guilty to act as a malicious wit- ness ..." It is not necessary to multiply these examples to illustrate the vast difference between the exalted moral principles of the Ten Commandments and the de- tailed Laws which follow them in this sidrah. The sages must have antici- pated our reaction, our sense of disappointment at descending from the lofty heights of Sinai to the prosaic world of Mishpotim, for they made the following ob- servation. They, note that the sidrikh begins with the conjon,6,- tivo "Vav" meaning "and!' u 4nd these are the 'ordi4ences 'That That "Vav, is 'co :bacans% 'lieges say; it emphasizes,- that the Laws of AfisitpAtn are .a, continuation and completion of what was declared on Mt. Sinai, Rashi is even more. ' explicit in his comment: "Just as the Ten . Commandments were offered at Sinai, so were these Laws." The sages leach- us -a funds• . mental lesson. Great ideals are ineffective unless they are con- cretized in the details of daily living. The loftiest principles exercise no influence if they are separated from human conduct. We all recall the cartoon whose caption reads: "I love humanity. It's just people I can't stand." A political adviser once ad- vised his associate on how to es- tablish himself in the world of politics. "We clarify, edify and Mishpatim: Exodus 21:1-24:18. I Samuel 20:18-42. magnify, but we never specify." The admonition of the sages is the opposite, for they tell us that we specify in order to clarify and to edify. Furthermore, the Torah does not deal with "religion" as this term is understood in the mod- ern world. The distinctive claim of Judaism is that it seeks to impose moral standards and spiritual meaning to life in its entirety. We do not separate the "sacred" and the "secular", for every aspect of life can express our love of God and our service to His creatures. Therefore, the Torah sets forth_laws about business and -commerce, about personal liability and domestic relations. The exalted moral truths of Sinai are realized only as we apply them to the decisions and judgments of all who share in the life of the community. U.S. Vetoes UN Resolution Against' Israel United Nations (JTA) --- The United State vetoed last week a Security Council resolution deploring Israel for "pro- vocative acts which have vio- lated the sanctity of the sanc- tuary of the Haram Al-Sharif," the holy Islamic mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The vote was 13 to 1 (The U.S.) with one abstention, Thailand. The Security Council opened its debate at the request of Morocco, as chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the United Areb Dultatee, as Chairman of the' Arab Vklotap et the UN, to isirreekS 041000tions 44000.40tween ow** Knesset members ancWingrjr,Arab crowd. Addressing . the NetiVelni, Israel's Ambassador to the UN, re- jected the Arabs' charges that the Israeli visitors desecrated that Al Aqsa mosque.