r'"'"'"'"'1 TORAH PORTION
[Don't be a i
heartbreaker
Glimpsing Greatness
From The Darkness
RABBI IRWIN GRONER
Special to The Jewish Nezis
acob, for the first time
in his life, had left his
parental roof. Taking
the wanderer's staff in his
hand, he journeyed to a doubt-
ful haven of refuge. Fleeing
the wrath of his brother,
Esau, and heartsick because
he had to leave his loving
mother, Rebecca, Jacob
wandered forth with deep
anguish. He would be com-
pelled to make a new start
among people he did not
know.
How dark everything seem-
ed to him is expressed by the
words of the Midrash: "The
whole world became like a
wall before him!' Troubles
closed in on him from every
side.
On the first day of his
tiresome odyssey, the sun sud-
denly set. At that moment,
the sages say, he prayed.
Where could he find shelter?
j
Shabbat Vayetze:
Genesis
28:10-32:3,
Hosea
12:13-14:10
Exhausted, Jacob placed his
head upon rocks as he lay
down to sleep. "And he
dreamed." He experienced
more than a dream. He saw a
vision of a ladder joining
heaven and earth. So vivid
was this vision that when
Jacob awoke from his troubl-
ed sleep, he took a vow, say-
ing, "If the Lord will be with
me and will keep me in the
way I go . . . then this stone
. . . shall be God's house."
Jacob had encountered
God's presence many times,
but this always occurred dur-
ing the daytime, in moments
of tranquility. This time,
however, Jacob, in a state of
helplessness, encountered the
Lord when the sun had set, in
the midst of darkness. Jacob,
reclining on a hard stone, was
in a state of profound anxie-
ty about the future. And yet,
in the midst of his distress, he
found faith and saw the "Gate
of Heaven."
Jacob is each of us. Who in
his personal life has not
known sorrow or frustration?
Upon whom has eventide not
cast its shadows? Who has not
lived for a period in the midst
of darkness?
Rabbi Groner is rabbi at Cong.
Shaarey Zedek.
It is important to affirm
one's faith, under such
circumstances.
There are people who
declare they have no faith at
all. Missing within them is
that sense of awe, reverence
and need from which there
arises the awareness of God's
presence.
Chasidism was the move-
ment which summoned men
and women to a resurgence of
faith and hope, of song and
ecstasy in the 18th century
when the Jewish com-
munities of Eastern Europe
were traumatized as a result
of physical destruction and
spiritual desolation. The Baal
Shem Toy called upon the
people to rekindle their spirit
of hope, to begin singing in
the midst of their terrible af-
flictions. He said: "When God
wants to punish a man, He
deprives him of his faith."
There are people who can on-
ly pray in the noon brightness
of the sunlit day. They can ex-
press gratitude then, but
their's is not the assurance
that remains when all else is
gone. An Austrian playwright
once declared: "We know of
some very religious people
who came to doubt God when
a great misfortune befell
them, but- we have never yet
seen anyone who lost his faith
because an undeserved for-
tune fell to his lot."
In the story of Jacob's
dream, we learn that to pray
in the clsrk means we are sad-
dened but not broken by life's
afflictions. What should one
pray for at such a time?
First, for strength. We can
draw out of our depths powers
untapped and sometimes
even unknown. We are
stronger than we think. We
mobilize our deepest reserves
rather than surrender to self
pity.
On the wall of a cellar in
the City of Cologne, where
Jews had hidden from the
Nazis during the Holocaust,
the following inscription was
discovered after the war: "I
believe in the sun even when
it is not shining; I believe in
love even when not feeling it;
I believe in God even when
He is silent?'
Second, we pray for the
capacity to transform our sor-
row into sources of greater
sensitivity and helpfulness.
Some make of sorrow a prison
and enclose themselves
within it. Our sorrows should
become a bridge to the pain of
others, enabling us to grow in
understanding and humanity.
o il
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • o
1 BIG BIG DISCOUNTS
•
•
• •
•
•
SEIKO 40% OFF tr.
RCA-SONY TVs
.QUARTZ WATCHES 'PHOIIE ANSWERING, MACHINE •
: BRAUN COFFEE MAKERS,CROSS PENS 40% OFF MI
• gi.,75 K-45 KITCHEN-AID MIXERS "NOW SAVE"
•
Eat
less
saturated
sat.
: TOASTER OVENS
• • E UREKA VACS
Amer ican Heart
on
- Assoc ati
WE'RE SIGHTING
vC.UP JFE
1%,". $ 119.00 INTERPLAK:
I
TO
:OSCAR BRAUN'S
'41
LINCOLN TOWERS SUITE 111
•
15075 W. Lincoln (101/2.Mile)
968-5858
• Ole Bleck East el Brimfield Ma thri Fri. 11-4* Sat 16-4
•
•
NORELCO•
TRIPLE HEAD •
ELECTRIC •
$08
•• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 011 • • • • • 0
COME WITH ME TO ISRAEL
Rabbi Sherman and Barbara Kirshner of Congregation B'nai Israel
of West Bloomfield, invite you to join with them in a
magnificent two week TOUR OF ISRAEL, FEBRUARY 15th-29th.
Rabbi and Barbara are experienced Group Leaders and have led
three previous groups to Israel.
• Jumbo Jet from Detroit
• Israel's most luxurious and renowned hotels
• Delicious Israeli Smorgasbord Breakfast Daily
• All porterage and transfers included
• Bat Mitzvah of a congregant atop Massada
• Our own air conditioned motorcoach and driver at our disposal
• Touring from Israel's most northern outpost through the Galilee to the Negev
in the south
Shabbat in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
• Our personal itinerary arranged by Rabbi to highlight Israel's most celebrated
points of interest
• Visit several Kibbutzim
• $1498.00 all inclusive
—
Call Rabbi and Barbara Kirshner today . . . and tell them
you would like to join in this exciting trip!!
851-1938
681-5353
The Jewish Professional
Network of B'nai B'rith Women
Cordially Invites You To Join Us
For. An Evening Featuring
Ralph Nichols
President, Ralph Nichols Corporation
And Sponsor of Dale Carnegie Training°
For Southern Michigan, Northern Ohio &
Southwestern Ontario
"How To Get On The Fast Track"
Wednesday, December 2, 198 7
Radisson Plaza Hotel
1500 Town Center; Southfield
6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
$15.00 Advance
Cocktails & Hors D'Oeuvres
$20.00 At the Door
7:15 p.m. Speaker
Call for Information, 552-8150
or send check made out to:
B'nai B'rith Women
25835 Southfield Road
Southfield, MI 48075