38 Friday, May 2, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
TORAH PORTION
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BY RABBI IRWIN GRONER
Special to The Jewish News
Beginning with the first Sab-
bath after the Passover festival,
Jewish tradition has designated
for each Sabbath afternoon the
study of a chapter of Pirke Avoth,
the Ethics of the Fathers.
The first chapter contains a
statement by ,the sage Joshua
Ben-Perahya: "Get yourself a
teacher; acquire unto yourself-a
friend; and judge every person in
the scale of merit."
We all recall, from our school
days, teachers who enriched our
understanding and contributed to
our intellectual growth. And yet,
it is surprising how much we re-
sent being taught once we are
through with school. Somehow
we acquire the notion that to
learn as an adult from someone is
to be inferior to him. Rabbi
Joshua advises us, "Get yourself
a teacher," reminding us that
learning is a life-long adventure.
The highest praise given to a
scholar was to call him a Talmid
Chacham — a "wise student."
One of the sages of the Talmud
made this interesting comment:
"I have learned much from my
teachers, and from -my col-
leagues, more than from my.
teachers, and from my students,
more than from all others." He
was a great and respected scholar
precisely because he made
teachers even of his students and
was willing to learn from
everyone.
No two persons have exactly
the same experience. Every indi-
vidual has faced different prob-
lems. Life has taught him lessons
in wisdom, specifically his own.
Every human being can enrich us
with his knowledge if we make
him our teacher.
"Get yourself a teacher" em-
phasized the importance of the
study of Torah for every Jew.
There are still so many Jews in
our day who are brilliant in their
own specialties, in science, lavf,
medicine, and other fields, but
who possess only an infantile
understanding of their own tradi-
tion. They judge Judaism on the
basis of some of the immature,
childhood recollections. There-
fore, regardless of your age and
background, regardless of
whether you went to Hebrew
school or not, it is never too late
to acquire a teacher, to being the
study of our great tradition.
Rabbi Joshua then urges us to
"acquire unto yourself a friend.!
Most people have many ac-
quaintances. Few people have
more than two, three, perhaps
four friends. We enjoy having ac-
quaintances, we find fulfillment
in having friends. We chat with
acquaintances, we reveal our
souls to friends. Emerson. once
wrote: "A friend is a person with
whom I may be sincere. Before
him, I think aloud."
A Yiddish proverb declares:
"Friends are needed both for joy
and for sorrow?' Each one of us in
life needs a friend with whom we
can share our deepest feelings
and hopes, our dreams and disap-
pointments. It is only a 'genuine .-
friend who can truly rejoice with?,
.gas-whenwesuceeedancLitaaanijr
,
a friend who can truly sym-
pathize with us when we fail.
A real friend is one who makes
our disappointment less hurtful,
our problem more solvable, our
grief less painful, our adversity
more bearable, our joy more de-
lightful.
When we ,respect our fellow
man, we learn from 'him. When
we trust him, we make him a
friend. We must also, Rabbi
Joshua advises us, judge every
human being on the scale of
merit.
This requires empathy. Once,
while walking with Oliver
,
Achare:
Leviticus 16:1-18:30.
Amos 9.1-15.
Goldsmith, Samuel Johnson
commented about a person who
passed by: "I hate that man."
Goldsmith asked: "Do you know
him?" Johnson replied: "If I knew
him, I wouldn't hate him."
A well-known writer fractured
a bone in his foot; which made it
necessary for him to hobble
around with a cane for several
days. He was pleasantly sur-
prised at how helpful people be-
came. Their consideration made
it tempting to keep the cane
longer than necessary. The mo-
ment he laid aside this:symbol of
deficiency and disability, people
reverted to their usual pushing,
jostling and rudeness. ;
It occurred to the writer that
everyone has some sort of broken
bone somewhere, even if it cannot
be seen — not physical bones, but
emotional ones that are, just as
frail and tender: "There have
been many dayCwheii needed
more consideration than the days
"carried the cane," he remarked.
"When my mind' was troubled
and my emotions Churned, and no
one knew or cared. The little
broken bone Minor, but it
opened a floodgate of human
sympathy. It could be a fruitful
experience for unto take a day off
once in awhile and treat every
person we meet as if his foot were
bandaged." . ,
When you judge . a person, says
Rabbi Joshua; judge hini in the
scale of merit. Not only will you
be a source of far greater help and
comfort to the person whom you
are judging,' but to your own sur-
prise, you will find yourself be-
coming a more accepting, open
and loving human' being in all of
your relationships with other
people. -
Scollosis Meeting
The Scoliosis Attsomation of
Michigan will hold its fifth an-
nual fashion show and awards
night on May 15 at 7:30 p.m. in
the Providence Medical Building,
8th Floor, Auditorium E. Call the
association 557-5542, for reserva-
tions. There is no 'charge.
,