I FROM THE RABBIS
Adat Shalom Synagogue
cordially invites you to attend
A Congregational Tribute Dinner
honoring
This Week's Insularity
Leads To Open Skies
SHLOMO RISKIN
Special to the Jewish News
T
he most crowded
month of the Jewish
year has to be Tishrei.
Connected by the Ten Days of
Repentance, Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur stand like
pillars of light at each end of
this rainbow of contrition,
repentance, forgiveness and
awe. Ten days as intense as
these are more than we en-
counter in any other month;
nevertheless as soon as the
Yom Kippur fast ends we eat
a meal and then step right
back outside to start banging
in the nails of the sukkah in
Shabbat Ha'azinu:
Deuteronomy
32:1-52
II Samuel 22:1-51
preparation for an entirely
new festival marked by the
construction of a small tem-
porary abode whose roof must
be devised from branches,
grass, or anything that grows,
and placed loose enough so
that we can see the stars in
the sky.
Why do the hammers of
Sukkot follow so closely
behind Yom Kippur, practical-
ly harmonizing • with the
shofar's blast announcing the
end of the fast? Indeed, could
two festivals be more dif-
ferent? Yom Kippur is a day
of fasting, praying and soul-
searching, an introspective
day which almost totally
suspends us from the physical
realm. In contrast, Sukkot is
directed toward the outside
world. Not only do we forsake
the permanence of our homes
for temporary booths out-
doors, but the Torah also com-
mands us to worship God
with the lulav, the etrog, the
arava, and the hadas, four
species covering the entire
range of vegetation in the
plant kingdom.
I think the close proximity
of these two festivals teaches
us something very important.
Since Yom Kippur is totally
cut off from the physical world
— divorced from man's world
and involved in God's world —
I might walk away believing
that Judaism's ideal is
separation from the world, a
kind of ascetic monasticism.
lb counter this notion, as
soon as the fast ends we im-
mediately get busy with
Shlomo Riskin is rabbi in the
town of Efrat in the Etzion
Bloc.
building the sukkah — shif-
ting gears from pure
spirituality to the world of the
five senses and intense
activity.
If we dig a little deeper we
can find that despite its
ascetic dimension, even Yom
Kippur reveals a decidedly
this-worldly base. Just as
we're commanded to fast on
Yom Kippur, we're command-
ed to eat the day before, which
has the status of festival.
Preceding this special meal,
we pray the Afternoon Ser-
vice which already includes
Yom Kippur penitential
prayers. In effect, therefore,
the meal preceding the onset
of the fast, replete with
challot, candles and festival
best, becomes an integral
part of Yom Kippur. Thus it
would be incorrect to assert
that Yom Kippur completely
scorns the physical, deeming
it a second-best alternative to
spiritual purity.
Moreover, we climax each
penitential Yom Kippur
prayer with the request ". .
that God's Temple should be
called a House of Prayer for
all nations," hardly an expres-
sion of shutting ourselves off
from the world.
In this vein, we should look
at the haftarah for the after-
noon service on Yom Kippur
itself when we read the Book
of Jonah, the prophet who
runs away instead of heeding
God's command to warn the
people of Nineveh to repent.
Jonah heads for Yaffo and
takes a boat to Tarshish, in
those days the far end of
civilization, refusing to follow
the Divine Command.
At first it seems odd that a
prophet should turn away
from his calling, but I believe
the meaning is clear. Jonah
would like to believe that
God's concern extends only to
Israel, and therefore he has
no desire to elevate the
religious status of Nineveh,
capital of Assyria, arch-
enemy of the Jews. Rather
than help this non-Jewish na-
tion come close to God, he's
willing to board a ship and
escape to a distant shore. But
God seeks out the reluctant
prophet and causes the rag-
ing sea to reveal his identity.
This time he has no choice
but to go to Nineveh where
the people do listen to his
words, and the repentance of
the Assyrians is secured.
The message doesn't end
here. Jonah, still displeased,
heads for the outskirts of the
city and there constructs a
shelter, waiting to see what
Continued on Page 37
RABBI EERY SPECTRE
on his tenth year as Spiritual Leader of the Synagogue
and his twenty-fifth year in the Rabbinate
Sunday, October 16
Adat Shalom Synagogue
Cocktail Reception 5:30 p.m.
Tribute to Rabbi Spectre 6:30 p.m.
Dinner 7:15 p.m.
Followed by guest speaker,
Mr.Elie Wiese'
Rabbi Spectre will be presented
with an Honorary Doctorate Degree
by Rabbi William Lebeau,
Vice-chancellor of the
Jewish Theological Seminary.
ELIE WIESEL
Couvert $40 per person
Please respond by October 7
Honorary Chairman
RABBI WILLIAM LEBEAU
SAMUEL FRANKEL
Dinner Co-Chairmen
JOEL GERSHENSON SHARON HART
Committee Chairmen
Arrangements
Beverly Liss
Entertainment
Patricia Eichenhorn
Robert Pan . gborn
Sylvia Starkman
Guest Hospitality
Beverly & Robert Dock
Babette & Willard Posen
Arlene & Asher Tilchin
Invitations
Roberta Blitz
Elaine Rosenblatt
Publicity
Claudia Gold
Reservations & Seating
Alita Cyrlin
Terran Leemis
Shabbat Kiddush
Judith Leder
Pam Salba
Sponsors
Alan Kaufman
Gerald Rosenbloom
Florine Mark Ross
Tickets
Sidney Feldman
Jonathan Jaffa
For Information and Reservations, call 851-5100.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
35