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Mili,t11

Formerly The Wiz

ELEGANT PARTY DECORATING
FOR ALL OCCASIONS

bar/bat mitzvahs
showers/sweet 16

The New Year Offers
Chance To Look Ahead

RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ

Special to The Jewish News

W

ith the approach of
the High Holy
Days, the Ibrah por-
tion for the week appropriate-
ly calls the Jewish people to
stand at attention.
"Ye are standing this day
all of you before the Lord your
God . . . that you should enter
into the Covenant of the Lord
your God . . ."
In truth, we are standing
before the Lord our God, as
the New Year begins with
Rosh Hashanah on Wednes-
day evening. What shall we
look for in the year ahead?
1) Certainly Jews every-
where are concerned for the
security and welfare of our
brethren in the State of
Israel. The past year corn-
pounded many problems
already addressed: the securi-
ty of its borders, the complica-

Shabbat Nitzavim-
Vayelech:
Deuteronomy
29:9-31:30,
Isaiah 61:10-63:9

tions of a growing Arab
population in the West Bank
and Gaza strip, the failure of
neighboring states to
recognize the legitimacy of
Israel, the perennial battle to
contain inflation, the strains
between Washington and
Jerusalem over the Pollard
affair.
Internal issues such as the
"Who is a Jew," question and
religious pluralism, have sur-
faced. The economic structure
is still uninviting to private
investment. The Orthodox
still refuse to recognize non=
Orthodox elements within
Judaism.
And yet, with it all, Israel
is about to celebrate its 40th
anniversary. We have cause to
rejoice in the New Year.
2) Soviet Jewry continues to
be a thorn in the Kremlin's
side. Despite glasnost,. the
rate of Jews coming out of the
USSR is still a trickle, though
the linkage between emigra-
tion and improving relations
of the two superpowers may
signal a turnabout.
3) Catholic-Jewish relations
received a jolt this past year
as a result of the Pope's warm
reception of Kurt Waldheim.
The Pope lost much moral
capital in the West by his ex-

Dr. Hertz is rabbi emeritus of
Temple Beth El.

pediency in placating
Austrian Catholics. Still, the
Pope, who grew up under the
shadow of Auschwitz, has
spoken out many times
against the Holocaust and
has extended the hand of
friendship to Jews in an effort
to build a better relationship
than the Vatican's historic
hostility to Jews. The next
step should be the Vatican's
recognition of Israel, with full
diplomatic relations.
4) Anti-Semitism is not
cured. The age-old hatred of
Jews surfaces over and over
again, simply because the
world won't let the Jews be
themselves.
The trial this past year of
Nazi leader Klaus Barbie in
France, the butcher of Lyons,
cost France a crisis in cons-
cience as memories of past
collaborationists in the World
War II period were
resurrected.
The scandals on Wall Street
involving Jews and insider
trading made many people
angry at Jews for being
crooks and angry at the
crooks for being Jews. But
remember, they were caught
because they were crooks, not
because they were Jews.
Their Jewishness did not
bring about their shame. It
brought about ours.
Judaism has something to
say about morality in the
business world. We are
ashamed when Jews are
crooks, because they still are
Jews. But as Americans, we
are not apart from society, but
of it. We can't clothe ourselves
in ethnic or tribal protec-
tionism to cover up crooks
who are Jews. The New Year
should make everyone look
for a higher standard of ethics
and morality than what we
have seen in the arbitrage
scandals of Wall street.
5) The New Year offers
everyone a new chance, a
fresh start in life. We need
that faith to make a better
world. A world without faith
is doomed to disaster. Our
religion offers guidelines in
the Holy Day season. We have
an annual opportunity to
restore our faith, to renew our
Covenant with God, to
recharge our spiritual bat-
teries, so that we can face the
future with renewed hope
that ours is not a world on its
way to disaster.
On Rosh Hashana, each
person stands before God.
Each family has a fresh
chance to build better rela-
tionships between husbands
and wives, between parents
and children.

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COME JOIN WITH US FOR PRAYER, STUDY AND SOCIABILITY

Congregation B'nai Israel of West Bloomfield

"THE WARM, CARING AND CONCERNED SYNAGOGUE"
Invites You To Join With Us In Perpetuating
Traditional Conservative Judaism In West Bloomfield

• DAILY, SABBATH AND HOLYDAY SERVICES
• TWO DAY WEEKLY HEBREW-RELIGIOUS SCHOOL,
AFFILIATED WITH UNITED HEBREW SCHOOLS
• SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP RATES FOR SENIORS,
NEWLYWEDS OR SINGLES
COST
OF
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HOLYDAY TICKETS APPLICABLE
•
TOWARDS MEMBERSHIP
• CHAVURAH GROUP OF YOUNG MARRIEDS ACTIVELY INVOLVED
• ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM

Attend Our Inspirational High Holyday Services

DR SHERMAN P. KIRSHNER CANTOR MICHAEL SILVERBERG DR. ALAN FELDMAN
President
Hazzan
Rabbi

Contact Dr. Jerry and Marlene Rose, Membership Chairpersons,
851-0330 or the Synagogue Office, 681-5353 for membership
information or high holyday tickets.

THE NEW CHINA

a lecture series featuring

Rabbi Sherwin Wine

speaking about his recent trip to CHINA

CHINA is a land of contrasts and contradictions:

• Repression and Freedom
• Confucius and Communism
• Collectivism and Individualism
• Socialism and Capitalism
• Tradition and Innovation

Rabbi Wine examines these in a series of three lectures:

September 21 — THE PEOPLE OF CHINA: Lifestyle
and Culture
September 28 — CHINA AND COMMUNISM
October 5 — THE JEWS OF CHINA: Past and Present

8:30 p.m. — Admission 53.00

THE BIRMINGHAM TEMPLE

28611 West Twelve Mile Road • Farmington Hills
477-1410

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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