TORAH PORTION
MILTON & TERRY ROTENBERG
Their Children
Marcie and Isaac Adery
Sheri and Bob Rotenberg
Memories Give Judaism
Meaning And Emotion
(Deut. 32:7) Moses bids the
Israelites to remember the
days of old; to recall what has
transpired in the past in order
to comprehend the present.
It is most significant that
these words are read on Shab-
Haazinu
Shabbat Shuva:
Deuteronomy
•
32:1-52,
Hosea 14:2-10,
Michah 7:18-20,
Joel 2:15-27
bat Shuvah, the Sabbath of
Repentance, or more ac-
curately, the Sabbath of
Return. The theme of remem-
brance seems to fit so well the
mood and the meaning of our
High Holy Day season. These
are the days when God
remembers our actions and
judges whether or not we
shall be blessed with
goodness and happiness dur-
ing the coming year.
But in another sense, these
are times of remembrance for
ourselves. When we come to
the synagogue on these
sacred days, we often
remember- our parents and
grandparents. We recall when
we sat at their sides during
the holiday services. We
remember their tears when
they heard Kol Nidrei or
when they were moved by a
particular poem or prayer.
And we recall their devotion
and piety at a time when it
was truly difficult to be a
committed Jew.
These memories are a vital
part of our religious lives.
They make Judaism personal;
they imbue our rituals with
meaning and emotion. They
allow each of us to have his
own particular, personalized
Judaism.
We all have such memories.
No one can fully share them;
Morton F. Yolkut is rabbi of Cong.
B'nai David.
Shema Yisrael, Kol Nidrei
and Dayenu. And as he walk-
ed along singing these
Hebrew words, some children
came forward to him with
tear-filled eyes and called out:
"Mommy! Mommy!" He had
reached their souls. He had
given life to hidden
memories. And the memories
saved them as Jews.
"Ask your father and he
will tell you." Our children
are turning to us for mem-
ories to enrich their lives. If
we freeze our own religious
memories and emotions, then
we are denying our posterity
their rightful heritage.
`;GEMINI TRAVEL
Lee Alpern
Marlene Oleshansky
Cathy Halfmann
Patty Ratliff
Ruth Isca
Agi Rubin
Jeanne Morda
Heidi Rushford
WANT TO WISH THEIR FRIENDS AND VALUED CLIENTS
A MOST HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR
B'NAI B'RITH B'NAI B'RITH B'NAI B'RITH B'NAI B'RITH B'NAI B'RITH
dioaNk.
V baNik
L'Shana
ti
To w
The 5000 Members of the
B'NAI B'RITH
Metropolitan Detroit Council
z
Wish You and Yours
A Healthy and Happy New Year
H.B. KEIDAN
ACCOUNTANTS UNIT
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BROTHERHOOD-E. JACOBSON I.S. BLOCH-ISRAEL
CENTENNIAL
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DETROIT
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DET. REAL ESTATE &
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CONSTR. UNIT
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REY-UT UNIT
MAUI IVN, i1 HIflL I IVNX
"Remember the days of old.
Understand the generation
long past. Ask your father and
he will tell you — Your elders
and they will explain to you."
And The Staff At
H,LIHN IVN, 11
T
he Torah, especially
the book of Deuter-
onomy, asks us over
and over again to remember
and not to forget. In this
week's portion Moses, in his
farewell address, calls upon
his people to recall the past:
\
Kathy and Stu Rotenberg
B 'NAI B 'RITH B 'NAI B 'RITH
RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT
Special to The Jewish News
they are our own precious
legacies. The greater the
religious devotion of our
parents and theirs, the richer
our own appreciation for
Jewish observances.
Today, many of us like to
think of ourselves as
sophisticated and rational.
We do not like to show piety
or religious emotion. We are
hesitant to even admit that
we have sacred religious
memories. We are even more
reluctant to share poignant
religious experiences with
our children lest we be view-
ed as old fashioned (God for-
bid!). Though our personal
memories rest safely in our
own psyches, we are not
creating anything mean-
ingful for our children (and
theirs) to remember. We are
destroying the institution of
religious nostalgia that
makes religion human, warm
and personal to us.
Deep within each of our
souls are Jewish memories
waiting to be released.
Sometimes, when we least ex-
pect it, they will come forth
and open a gateway to our
past. They will give us a pro-
found and meaningful
religious experience.
There is a moving story
which profoundly illuminates
the power of Jewish
memories. During World War
II, several thousand Jewish
children were sent to England
so that they might be spared
the Nazi massacres. These
youngsters were taken in by
Christian families and raised
as Christians. After the war,
Dayan Isidor Grunfeld went
to England to find these
children and reclaim them as
Jews. Of course his task was
not easy. How Could he iden-
tify the Jewish children who
had now been raised and
educated as Christians for
years?
He devised a plan to go
through the streets where the
children played and to sing
B'NAI B'RITH B'NAI B'RITH B'NAI B'RITH B'NAI B'RITH B'NAI B'RITH
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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