FROM THE RABBIS The Vinkige Wine Shoppe . NEW YORK SELTZER WATER (Assorted flavors) INGLENOOK WINES $5.99 20% OFF $ 8.99 3 liter 24/10 oz. btls. We carry a full line of Beer, Wine & Liquor ALL COCA COLA PRODUCTS SUTTER HOME WHITE ZINFANDEL $1.79/...$6.99/.... 3 for $ 1 00 0 750 ml Prices good with ad / Expires 4/15/88 Mon-Thurs 9 am-10 pm • Fri-Sat 9 am-11 pm • Sun 12-8 pm 4137 Orchard bake Rd. • Just South of Pontiac Trail WEST BLOOMFIELD 626-3235 CONGREGATION BINA' MOSHE 14390 W. Ten Mile / Oak Park Invites you to a Memorial Service to the 6 Million and a reevaluation of their legacy to the next generations April 14, 1 . 988 7:30 P.M. PROFESSOR SID BOLKOSKY of the University of Michigan will speak on "flow to Talk To Your Children and Grandchildren about the Horrors of the Holocaust" THE DETROIT FRIENDS OF BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY cordially invite you to their DISTINGUISHED LECTURERS SERIES featuring DR. ARIE RIMMERMAN School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University Ramat Gan, Israel who will speak on Jewish Identity from Generation to Generation: How to Guarantee a Jewish Grandchild A practical discussion on maintaining a strong Jewish family in the Diaspora. Thursday, April 14, 1988-7:45 p.m. at United Hebrew Schools—LaMed Auditorium 21550 West Twelve Mile Road / Southfield Refreshments will follow the program and there will be no solicitation of funds. For further information, call 423-4550 34 FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1988 Moral Demands Of Passover: Share Our Good Fortune RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ Special to The Jewish News henever Passover ends on the Sab- bath, tradition assigns a special Torah por- tion to be read at the synagogue Sabbath service — Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17. Here, among the special statutes that distinguish the ancient Israelite people as special and different, are laws of holiness repeated from earlier texts in the Torah which deal with dietary laws and emphasize the separateness of the Israelite people. Then come laws of tithing, especially the tithe to maintain the Levites. These are repeated as well as the tithe to maintain the poor. Finally, the portion comes to the probable reason these verses were assigned for this particular Sabbath ending Passover: the laws pertaining to the three pilgrimage festivals. Tradition wants to teach that Passover, as important as it is in relating an historical event, is but one of three times in the year that our ancestors were to go up to the Temple in Jerusalem with their fruits of the field. Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot are once more identified as the three times in the year when special agricultural events identify the Jewish way of life. Interestingly enough, scripture does not here mention the High Holy Days but instead emphasizes the three pilgrim festivals that require a visit to the cen- tral sanctuary. Historically, the pilgrim festivals were to be celebrated in the Temple. After its destruction by the Romans in the year 70, the celebration of the three festivals was transferred to the home and to the new sanctuaries aris- ing in the Diaspora, the synagogues. The pilgrim festivals are biblical in origin, as our Torah portion • indicates. These festivals have changed greatly in observance as a result of the wanderings of the Jewish people throughout history. All three festivals ask that Jews set aside these special times and interrupt their daily occupations in order to give thanks to God for having delivered our W Dean Gould, Arthur Liss Chairmen Dr. Hertz is rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth El. Rel igious News Service ALL WINES Excluding Sale Items The Torah reminds us that the Jews were once slaves in Egypt to kindle sympathy for the underprivileged. ancestors from slavery (Pesach), giving them the Torah (Shavuot), and enabl- ing them to harvest the Since all three pilgrim festivals were agricultural in their ancient origins, it is not surprising that all three deal with food. Passover is Judaism's food festival par ex- cellence. The seder meal prescribes the kinds of food that are required even as the Haggadah weaves its stories of the deliverance from Egypt. Isn't it significant that these agricultural festivals should deal with food, know- ing how basic it is to human existence? Concern for the hungry, the poor and the or- phaned, concern for the less fortunate and concern for those who have lost their way in the world have historical- ly been a trademark of the Jewish way of life. Today, the hungry and homeless should have no less a call upon our people as we come to the end of celebrating the Passover festival. And not just with the Jewish poor, but with all who suffer from the_ pain and indignities and frustration of not having enough to eat. The nightly news focuses on far-off places in distant continents of the starving and the homeless. Closer to home are those who need our help. Not the least of the moral demands of our pilgrimage festivals is the call to share our good fortune with those less fortunate than we. Not forgotten at this Passover season are the Jews inside the USSR who know there is a place to go in freedom if they could only get there. The matzah which Jews in fortunate lands like the U.S. and Israel have eaten Concern for the poor and hungry has been a Jewish trademark. this Passover week remains the symbol of hope that binds the Jewish people everywhere as one. To me it seems almost miraculous that thousands of Hebrew slaves in ancient Egypt who had no religion to speak of, no culture, no tradi- tion, could yet rise up and establish their identity in history's first freedom march to a land promised them for future deliverance. The Passover story has thus played an important role in the development of Jewish ethics. Frequently the Torah reminds us the Jews were once slaves in Egypt in order to kindle sympathy for the weak and underprivileged. Jews know how it feels to have been slaves. Therefore, we understand how badly others need our compassion, mercy and charity.