i ,00,00Fx .(\Atgl-c--E, EARLY SPRING SPECIA L-I good pND with a 10 FREE WHITE TUBULAR HANGERS just for having us come out and show you how we can organize and give you More Space! (while they last) We can organize closets, under sink, kit- chen pantry, kitchen cupboard and much more! If you take advantage of this opportunity we'll give you 1 FREE SELF STACKING SHELF OR SHOE TIER (while they last) FREE IN-HOME ESTIMATE AND CLOSET DESIGN previous sales excluded O C E The Closet People 78ripayi fralay19„ 1988 I INSIGHT 661-4900 5550 Drake Road, West Bloomfield (Between Maple and Walnut Lake Roads) If You Know Continued from preceding page Context but would not bear the scrutiny of mathematics or science. When faced with the weaknesses of their system, the rabbis would resort to fanciful explana- tions or simply fall back on faith. Taylku. It sounds like the name of a Japanese restau- rant, but it is the Talmudic formula for questions that had no answers. Tay-ku essen- tially means, have faith, some day the Messiah will come and answer the seemingly unanswerable. I was comfortable in ac- cepting the Tay-kus of Judaism. Then I met Louis Jacobs. " Rabbi Jacobs was the first pious Jew I met who I felt really wanted answers. And in seeking them, some of the old shibboleths fell, but to my amazement they did not break. Because of his faith, they emerged alive and well and even fortified. In one class, Rabbi Jacobs tackled the tricky question of who wrote the Hebrew Bible. The Orthodox tenet I grew up with was that the Torah was written by God on Mount Sinai and given to Moses. On an intellectual and historical level, I knew this scenario was unlikely, but on an emotional level I somehow needed to believe it was true. In class, Rabbi Jacobs of- fered a full range of views, from the Orthodox to the scholarly, and demonstrated the weaknesses and strengths of each. In the end, he favored the theory of four different authors living at different times. This, he said, was ob- vious from different writing styles, inconsistencies in the texts and the development of Jewish law through antiquity. After class, I walked Rab- bi Jacobs home and told him what troubled me. "Once you punch holes in it, " I asked him, "and reveal that it is not all God-given, what happens to your faith? What is your Judaism?" He pointed out a beautiful tree on the school lawn. "Do you know how that tree began?" he asked. He bent down and picked up an acorn and rolled it in his fingers. "Just because you know how it began doesn't mean you cannot enjoy the tree." I relaxed in its shade and gave it all some thought. Is the Tbrah divine? An af- firmative answer is easy if you know one religion; But if you know many, the ques- tions multiply and chase each other in a wild circle. Is the New 'Testament divine? Is the Koran? And if they are, what about the Ibrah? Or, is it possible that none of the holy books are God- given? Maybe they simply represent man's striving to understand and ultimately reach the divine. At that moment, I wanted to devote my life to these questions. I thought of Bill Doe, my neighbor who be- longed to the Roman Catholic church on the corner, and how he seemed in some mystical way to be pointing me toward a life of study. A short while later, Bill disappeared from our street. One day, I ran into the Judge and asked what had hap- pened to our garrulous neighbor. "He's at Mass General," the Judge informed me somberly. "Cancer." When I got home, I called the hospital, and the switch- board put me through to Bill. He sounded tired, but he was anxious to hear news about my family and about the rest of the celebrities on Chester Street. When I asked how he was doing, he sounded con- cerned but upbeat in his finest military manner. "One operation down," he said, "and one to go." The first operation, he said, was not successful in removing all the cancer. "Bill, tell me, is there anything I can do for you?" I asked. "Just pray for me, Rabbi," he replied. As a reporter I had often encountered death, covering plane crashes and violent holdups. But as a "rabbi" — Bill's rabbi, anyway — I was frightened. I reached down deep into the well of theological studies in which I was steeped that year, but found no answers to the suffering of my friend. And I knew that even if the ministry were to be my primary calling, the answers - to some questions would re- main beyond my grasp. Yet, there was one thing that I had learned about all religious systems. There is a point when book learning stops and faith begins. The only thing I could do was what Bill had asked. I prayed for his soul. ❑ Copyright • 1987 by the New York Times Co. Reprinted by permission. ""'""miNEWS Hypertension Discoveries Jerusalem — Treatment of hypertension may be improv- ed as a result of the discovery by a Hebrew University of Jerusalem researcher. High blood pressure can be induc- ed in some animals by injec- ting a substance produced in the brain of cows.