38 Friday, May 2, 1986 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS TORAH PORTION LOSE 21 LBS. IN JUST 3 WEEKS Acquiring A Teacher And Making rFriends FASTER & EASIER THAN EVER BEFORE • Supervised by doctors, nurses and weight loss specialists. • No hunger pangs or exercising • Free stabilization and maintenance 7 MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED CALL OR DRO IN FOR "A FREE CONSULTATION • • • • No pills or injections No tasteless prepackaged foods Special programs for children Guaranteed results LOSE WEIGHT FAST WITHOUT EXERCISE QUICK WEIGHT LOSS CENTERS Tr oy 528-3585 Brighton 227.7428 Alien Park 386-7230 Clinton Twp 263.4600 East. Detroit 771 -4055 Livonia 477.6060 Hamtramck 369.3373 ' Dearborn Hgts. .:.'... 563-3356 people vary, so does weight loss. Southfield Pontiac Warren Canton Trenton Tel-Twelve Ann Arbor 559-7390 681-6780 756-1680 455.5202 675.6055 358-5700 995-1901 Hours: MON. thru FRI. 8 a.m.-7 p.m. SAT. 9:00 a.m.-1:00 P.m. HERALD WHOLES ALE BALDWIN We can furnish your entire home, from your front door (Baldwin to Schlaie), your bath (Dornbracht to Delta) and your exciting European kitchen (K.W.C. to Grohe) all at wholesale. OUr designers will help JADO ARTISTIC BRASS 3 OF 109 000 RefreShinglY Different Item _ s AT.. HERALDWHOLESALE 20830 Coolidge Hwy. lust north of 8 Mile Rd. you create a look you'll love; we service everything we sell. HOURS: 9-5:30 MON/FRI, 9-3 SAT OR CALL FORA SPECIAL APPOINTMENT ANYTIME 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. ,