ARE YOU OUT OF CONTROL?

TORAH PORTION

BERNICE GARON, M.A.

Great Endeavors
Are Never Completed

DIET CONSULTANT
CAN HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT
IN A NEW AND UNIQUE WAY

CALL: 353-0465
Don't Give up on Yourself!!!

181 S. Woodward Ave.
Birmingham. MI 48011

642-1690

RABBI IRWIN GRONER

Special to The Jewish News

Synagogue Council of Greater Detroit

invites you to

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CI SCO ER THE JOYS OF
JO N NG A
syN A GoGuE OR TE PLE

•

Meet the clergy and lay leadership. Learn
what Synagogue/Temple affiliation can
mean for you and your family.

THE SYNAGOGUE IS THE ADDRESS
OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE

.

INI

0 P

SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 (1-4 unless otherwise noted)

TEMPLE ISRAEL
5725 Walnut Lake Rd.
W. Bloomfield, MI 48033
661-5700

TEMPLE BETH JACOB (2:30 5:30)
79 Elizabeth Lake Rd.
Pontiac, MI 48053
332-3212

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MONDAY, AUGUST 25

CONGREGATION SHAAREY ZEDEK (6 8 p.m.)
27375 Bell Rd.
Southfield, MI 48033
357-5544

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 26

DOWNTOWN SYNAGOGUE (4-7 p.m.) .
1457 Griswold
Detroit. MI 48226
961-9328

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 (9:00 a.m. unless otherwise noted)

CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM
14601 W. Lincoln Rd.
Oak Park, MI 48237
547-7970
*

CONGREGATION BETH ACHIM '
21100 W. 12 Mile Rd.
Southfield, MI 48076
352-8670

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 (1-4 unless otherWise noted )

30

ADAT SHALOM (3-5:30)
29901 Middlebelr Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48018
851-5100

CONGREGATION BETH ABRAHAM
HILLEL MOSES
5075 W. Maple Rd.
W. Bloomfield, MI 48033
851-6880

TEMPLE BETH EL (11:30 1:30)
7400 Telegraph Road
Birmingham, MI 48010
851-1100

BIRMINGHAM TEMPLE
28611 W. Twelve Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48018
477-1410

CONGREGATION B'NAI DAVID
24350 Southfield Rd.
Southfield, MI 48075
557-8210

CONGREGATION B'NAI ISRAEL
OF WEST BLOOMFIELD
4200 Walnut Lake Rd.
West Bloomfield, MI 48033
681-5353

CONGREGATION B'NAI MOSHE
14390 W. Ten Mile Rd.
, Oak Park, MI 48237
548-9000

TEMPLE EMANU-EL (2-5)
14450 W. Ten Mile Rd.
Oak Park, MI 48237
5
967-4020

TEMPLE KOL AMI
5085 Walnut Lake Rood
W. Bloomfield, MI 48033
661-0040

BETH ISRAEL CONGREGATION
.
2000 Washtenaw
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
663-5543

LIVONIA JEWISH CONGREGATION
31840 W. 7 Mile Road
Livonia, MI 48152
447-8974
CALL FOR DATE AND TIME
SHAAR HASHOMAYIM SYNAGOGUE
115 Giles Blvd. E.
Windsor, Ontario N9A4C1
519-253-2352

CONGREGATION T'CHIYAH
1035 Sr. Antoine
Detroit, MI 48226
963-5021

Friday, August 15, 1986

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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T

his week's sidrah
portrays one of the
persistent attitudes in
our career as an eternal people.
It is our unique propensity for
conducting debates with God.
We talk to Him. We disagree
with Him: We demand justice
when we believe we have been
dealt with unfairly. This
ability to argue with God was
taught us by our first ancestor,
Abraham, who questioned
God's justice in destroying the
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Biblical book of Job is one
extended and powerful
argument with God. Even in
our day, especially in Hassidic
literature, one finds frequent
legends and stories depicting a
Din Torah, a lawsuit with the
Almighty.
This Torah portion recounts
a classic lawsuit with God.
Moses argues his case and
submits an impassioned plea
on the basis of justice and
equity. He recalls his debate
with God. He declares: "I made
a plea to God in those days, and
I said '0 Lord, let me cross the
Jordan. Let me enter the Prom-
ised Land.' "
Now that seems to be a just
demand. It should surely have
been granted. Moses had
started the whole process of de-
liverance which began when
he stood bravely before
Pharaoh 40 years earlier. He
led a difficult and . vexing
people for four decades in the
wilderness. They. frequently
rebelled, they constantly com-
plained, they even reverted to
idolatry. He lived through it
all, and led them close to the
Promised Land. Now, finally,
at the very edge of Jordan,
when he wants to complete his
historic task, he is forbidden to
do so.
He wants to know: "What is
the justice in having me die be-
fore I finish the most important
enterprise of my life?"
God responded like a stern
judge and summarily dis-
missed his claim. God said to
him, 'Ray lach, enough now.
Do not say anything more
about this matter." God si-
lenced him brusquely, and de-
nied him any further state-
ment. Why?
By His stern response. God
wanted to teach Moses that his
plea to finish the work that he
had begun is not fair. Small
tasks can be begun, continued,
and finished, but the great
tasks, the world tasks, are
never quite completed.. God
said, in effect, "Do you think
your job will be concluded if I
let you cross the Jordan to go
into the Promised Land? Just
remember, I gave you Ten
Commandments to give to your
people, to the world: 'Thou

Irwin Groner is rabbi at Cong.
Shaarey Zedek.

shalt not steal. Thou shalt not
murder.' Has robbery and
murder ceased in the world? Is
the ideal of establishing law,
'order and justice completed
anywhere in the world? Such
an endeavor is not easily
finished, and so do not talk of
finishing your work.
"You are the" first of the
Prophets. I have prepared suc-
cessors. So, Ray lach,' cease
your argument. You are work-
ing in too great a cause for you
to demand to see it completed
in your day. It is not small
enough to be finished."
Moses agreed. He accepted
this decision agaii'ist him, but
he felt that he ought to have
some sort of consolation. God
gave it to him. He said, "Go up
to the summit of Mount Pisgah
and look westward. See the
Lebanon, and the plain of Sha-
ron, and the Great Sea beyond.
See it with your eyes." But
what kind of comfort is that?

Va'etchanan
Shabbat Nachamu:
Deuteronomy
3:23-7:11;
Isaiah 40:1-26

Actually, it is one of the most
satisfying sources of consola-
tion to be found.
If one can stand on a higher
level and continue to see the
Promised Land in spite of
day-by-day heartbreak, that is
a glorious spiritual achieve-
ment. In spite of all the crime,
corruption and violence, we be-
lieve, because Moses taught us,
that there truly is a Promised
Land. That is the Biblical af-
firmation of faith, which in-
spired the Jewish will to be-
lieve. This is the most noble
and enduring of gifts, because
so long as the heart continues
to have faith, the soul will con-
tinue to strive for goodness.
There is a Talmudic dictum
which describes the character
of the final judgment. When a
man stands before the court of
heaven, when his days on earth
are completed, he will be asked
certain questions. First: Have
you conducted your business
affairs honestly? Second: Have
you fixed regular hours for the
study of Torah? The third ques-
tion: Have you maintained
your faith in the salvation of
mankind, have you preserved
your belief in the deliverance
of the word?
We have to struggle to be-
lieve that beyond the Jordan
there is still a Promised Land.
Of course. such faith has to be
fought for. It is not easy in the
face of bitter reality to hold on
to such a resplendent and
glorious vision of the future.
But God demands of each of us
to maintain that faith in the
future.

