God's Advertisement Continued from preceding page NATURE 1 2 11 n ni ci 7 IiirW1.0.17AD9 iDD - ls< 71 3 2 D 1 71 J 1 9 /11 ) A 1 D ■ 1 1 FLOWERS 7 FRUITS -1 7 Txv - po )A11.03 o1 , nriAxi 6 Y 7 powlap ilf19 crinl? -1111 8 GRAIN 9 GRASS • v3v.; ■ 1 1 7Y .1 , FIELD • t 2 FOREST 11 3 TREES .„ Y ESRANCHES destroy." They reasoned that if the trees of the Canaanites were protected from destruction, then surely all of God's creations should be similarly protected. Al tashchit, the rabbis declared: do not destroy. Ecology, it would seem, was a Jewish value long before the word existed. In modern times, we too are in the process of "conquering" or settling the land around us. We are putting up housing developments and shopping centers, building roads and providing services. In this process, however, the principle of Al tashchit must be ever before our eyes. The preservation of nature is an obligation which is incumbent upon us all. If we fail to take action today in order to preserve our communal future, we will one day look up and, like the prophet Jeremiah, hear in our hearts the voice of God, or perhaps of our own conscience, saying: "Behold, I brought you into a land of fruitful fields to eat the fruit thereof; but when you entered, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination." There is a wonderful story in the Midrash in which an emperor comes upon an old man who is busily planting a tree. "Old man," 5 CARIPE.1.1 lA Find the hidden Hebrew words, across, up and down or diagonally. From KTAV Publishing, Word Find, A Hebrew Puzzle Fun Book he chuckles, "do you really believe that you will live to eat of the fruit of that tree?" "I may, if I am worthy," the old man counters, "but more importantly, my children will be able to enjoy the fruit of this tree, as will their children after them. Just as previous generations have toiled for me, so too must I toil for the generations to come." We, like the old man of our Midrash, are partners in the process of creation. Just as our ancestors preserved God's creation for us, so must we preserve it for our children. So, too, must we enjoy it with our children. During this season of harvest, of renewal and of joy, spend time with your family out of doors. Go on picnics, take walks, climb trees. Look carefully at the world around you, for, if you do, you will surely see God's "advertisement" of beauty and of order in the world. This is the message of Succot and of Simchat Torah. It is the message which we hear as we sit in our succot and peer through the skhach (branches which cover the succah) to the stars above. It is the message which we hear as we emerge from our succot to a new appreciation of the wonders of nature. It is the message which we hear when we turn the scrolls on Simchat Torah and read once again the story of Creation. What better time then to commit ourselves, as individuals and as families, to the sacred task of ensuring that our precious gift of natural beauty will be passed on to the next generation as a heritage for all time. Havdalah Ritual Separates Sacred And The Profane By RABBI DAVID NELSON Cong. Beth Shalom At the end of Yom Kippur, hundreds of young children crowded the dimly-lighted sanctuary of Cong. Beth Shalom, in what started as an orderly Havdalah procession, and as it wound down the aisle, with each child holding a battery-operated candle, the rabbi intoned the special blessings of the Havdalah ritual. The grandparents had awaited this moment as they carried their young grandchildren onto the bimah and the cantor sang Eliyahu Hanavi. When its lively melody was completed, the wine cup was raised and the proper blessing was recited. Then a spice box was lifted. And finally the congregation held up its hands to the light of the candle. The kiddush was recited and the candle was extinguished. Do these young people have to wait another year for such an impressive ceremony? We can't have a second Yom Kippur, but we can and do recite Havdalah at the L 2 - FRIDAY, OCT. 16, 1987 conclusion of every Shabbat and festival of the Jewish year. What is Havdalah? The name Havdalah is derived from the Hebrew word meaning "to divide," and the ceremony takes place at the conclusion of the Sabbath or festival, dividing the special or holy day from the ordinary weekdays. As the Sabbath is ushered in with candlelight and a blessing over wine, so too is its departure accompanied by candlelight, wine and prayer. We also inhale the fragrant spices contained in the Besamim Box, symbolizing our hope that the coming week will be sweet, pleasant and filled with light. Havdalah means separation between the sacred and the mundane, light and darkness, Sabbath and the rest of the week. The ending of Shabbat should prompt us to recall in our prayers the main ideas and programs we have heard and struggled with during the earlier parts of the day. What is the history of Havdalah? The Babylonian Talmud says that the Havdalah blessing was originally included in the Amidah. In the Jerusalem Talmud, there are three different possibilities given for the origin of Havdalah. The first explanation is that originally the Havdalah blessing might have been included in the Amidah and then transferred to the cup of wine "for the benefit of the children." Another explanation is that the Havdalah blessing may have first been recited with the wine or it may have been instituted in both the home and the synagogue simultaneously. According to most of the Tannaim (rabbis of Palestine before 200 C.E. whose interpretations are found in the Mishnah and other sources contemporary with it), the practice is to recite the Havdalah blessing over the cup of wine, while only mention of it is made in the Amidah. In the Medieval period, the custom began of also reciting Havdalah over a cup of wine in the synagogue in order to exempt those who had no wine. In the Havdalah ceremony today, the blessing over the wine itself stems from the duty to recite Havdalah over a cup of wine. The wine is permitted to flow to the brim of the cup to symbolize the overflowing blessing hoped for in the coming week. In the words of Maimonides, a Continued on Page L-7 Community Will Recite Havdalah Havdalah will be celebrated at a special community-wide gathering at 7 p.m. Nov. 21 at the Jimmy Prentis Morris Branch of the Jewish Community Center in Oak Park. The evening will include astronomers, who will conduct star- gazing, refreshments, and dancing: one group for women, one group for men and a mixed group. The free event is co-sponsored by the Jewish Center, Jewish Experiences for Families and The Jewish News.