a 4-i - 1— )-"rter," d 4'1 '1 * 1 444/ 11.7.itortg f tii At' 0_ 0 A_ A A iAt.1_ A . I 'ALA litrkk.Tri ` lt* ea tt " u1,411 .110 t 4 #* •0 t 'IF i 4'4 ?P' A. itSff t. 4 ALSO, THE LOWEST FARES TO LAS VEGAS N'SMWt call: GORDON TRAVEL . 569-7333 25511 Sod afield Rd., Seedifield 41015 'DELTA D RS wiscAno • ORIANDO (home of EPCOT Center/Walt Disney World) LOW SUMMER PRICES from Including round-trip air fare, hotel and an Alamo Chevy Chevette, or similar car, for 3 days with free mileage!' Also free one-day admission to Sea World. 4 days, 3 nights from $259 4 days, 3 nights from $299 Quality Inn Plaza Holiday h-in International Drive Sonesta Village Buena Vista Palace 4 days, 3 nights from $329 4 days, 3 nights from $399 PT. LAUDERDALE from iIVV LOW SUMMER PRICES Including round-trip air fare, hotel and an Alamo Chevy Chevette, or similar car, for 3 days, with free mileage* 4 days, 3 nights from $289 4 days, 3 nights from $309 Sheraton Yankee Trader Holiday Inn Ft.Lauderdale Beach or Bahia Mar Marriott's Harbor Beach Resort 4 days, 3 nights from $349 THE BAHAMAS from 9 9 LOW SUMMER PRICES Includes round-trip air fare, round-trip airport transfers and your hotel accommo- dations. In Nassau, also admission to a native show (except Sat. or Sun), bonus features. Pilot House or Sheraton British Colonial (Nassau) Valentine's Yacht Club & Inn (Family Islands) Paradise Island Resort & Casino — Paradise Towers or Holiday Inn Paradise Island Paradise Island Resort & Casino — Britannia Towers or The Cable Beach Hotel, a Wyndham Resort 4 days, 3 nights from $299 See your professional Travel Agent for details and reservations. Or call Delta Vacation Center toll free at 800-523-7777. 4 days, 3 nights from $379 4 days, 3 nights from $379 4 days, 3 nights from $409 GetsYouThere All tour rates are from Detroit and are subject to change without notice. Similar hotels may be substituted. Rates are per person, double occupancy; U.S. Departure Tax is included. Seats and accommodations are subject to availability. Add taxes and gratuities. Prices shown are available during certain limited travel periods; they can vary and may be higher depending upon the actual date, day of travel and hotel selected. Certain charges and fees cannot be assessed immediately, but can only be collected on checkout or departure. $1.00 fuel surcharge on flights leaving Florida not included. *Gas, taxes, rental deposit and optional Collision Damage Waiver not included. 1986 Delta Air Lines, Inc. 42 Friday, August 8, 1986 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS , 40 ` 411 TORAH PORTION PICK YOUR OWN DATES. FROM $8900 p.p. tiA6 ,ZIW•a••• 41,4 , •igA 44 AO ,A JO A MOST FLORIDA CITIES (one way, based on round trip purchase) No Minimum - No Maximum .. ♦ The Moral Function Of Criticism In Tradition • RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT Special to The Jewish News I t may come as a suprise to some of us that criticism is not only regarded as a virtue by Judaism, but is included as a Biblical commandment, one of the 613 mitzvot. "Thou shalt not hate thy. brother in thy heart, thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbor — and not bear sin because of him" (Leviticus 19:17). The Torah teaches that the inevitable criticism we have of others needs to be expressed. It is better for them and for us to express these criticisms and ar- ticulate the rebuke and thereby prevent all of society from fal- ling into the sin of bearing col- lective resentment. Indeed, not only is criticism one of the important command- ments, but it is one of the main functions of our religion. Torah was meant to raise our ideals, values and practices to an ever high level. This it does by serv- ing as our critic by focusing at- tention on the distance between the ideal and the real, by reve- aling to us our imperfections and thus urging us to strive for the perfect. Moses and Baalam were both prophets. They lived at the same time and preached to the same people of Israel. Moses was inci- sive and often merciless in his criticism of his people. In this week's sidrah we are told that Moses began his farewell dis- course to the Jewish people with the admonishment, "How can I alone bear your troubleness, and your burden, and your strife?" (Deuteronomy 1:12). He re- minded his people of their shortcomings and failings and called them to task time and again. Balaam, the Gentile prophet, spoke only kind words to the people. He hailed them, com- plimented them, blessed them, flattered them. While Moses be- rated them as stubborn and 'con- tentious, Balaam greeted them with Mah Tovu — "How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob" (Num- bers 24:5). In retrospect, however, Moses is the archetype of the navi haemet, the true prophet, while Balaam is the navi hasheker, the prophet of falsehood. Moses who criticized is truly a prophet; Balaam who did not is merely a soothsayer. At the time Moses spoke, our ancestors may have felt offended by his scathing re- marks. Yet the judgment of his- tory was- reverence for the pro- phet and critic and condemna- tion for the soothsayer and propagandist. What Moses was to his gener- ation, the Torah of Moses must be to every generation, includ- ing and especially our own. When religion begins to do noth- ing. more than calm us, soothe us and sanctify our status quo, Morton F. Yolkut is rabbi at Cong. B'nai David. it is no longer religion. It is Balaam's trademark. It is when religion fails to criticize that it deserves to be criticized itself. That is why the pulpit too must not only be a source of in- spiration and education, but even more so: criticism. If our Jewish and human imperfec- tions are hidden behind a veil of innocuous platitudes, then the voice of Torah has been silenced. The great Talmudic sage Abaya once remarked that if a rabbi is beloved by his people it is often not so much because of his superiority as because of the fact that he diplomatically ref- rains from every kind of criti- cism (Ketubot 105b). One final point, the most im- portant, remains to be made. Until now we have dealt with Devarim Shabbat Chazon: Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22 Isaiah 1:1-27 the criticism of others. Yet this is only the prelude to the most difficult art of all — criticism of one's self. How does one go about reproaching one's self? The great founder of Hasidism, Israel Baal Shem Tov, taught that you arrive at self criticism through your criti- cism of others. When you look into a mirror, the Baal Shem says, you see all your own faults and deficiencies — the shape of your nose, the complexion of your skin, the size of your teeth. So, when you look at your fellow man and notice his faults, treat him like a mirror, and recognize in him your own faults. The wise man sees the faults of others and then knows he has them himself and proceeds to correct them. He holds up the personality of his friends as a mirror of his own. Criticism of others, if taken in the proper spirit, leads to self criticism. "Who shall ascend the moun- tain of God, and who shall stand in his holy place? He that has clean hands and a pure heart ..." (Psalms 24:3-4). How are hands cleaned and hearts purified? With criticism and self criticism. Bronfman Gets Brandeis Award New York — Edgar M. Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, will be presented with the Justice Louis D. Brandeis Award at the 85th National Convention of the Zionist Organization of America, to be held Sept. 25-28 at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel in Baltimore. Close to 1000 ZOA delegates from across the U.S. are ex- pected to attend.