I SYNAGOGUE SERVICES
Gary Weinstein
wishes you a
HAPPY HOLIDAY
Don't Forget .. .
"The bitterness of poor
quality remains long
after the sweetness of
the low price is gone."
.„17
Weinstein
BETH EL: Services 8 p.m. Rabbi Julian
Cook will speak on "The Night Before
Christmas." Services 11 a.m. Saturday.
Rabbi Cook will speak on "Bless the
Children."
BETH JACOB: Services 8:30 p.m. today.
Rabbi Richard Weiss will speak on "One
of Our Boys Made It!"
TEMPLE ISRAEL: Services 8 p.m. today
and 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Rebbe's tish
9:30 a.m. Saturday.
KOL AMI: Services 8 p.m. today. Rabbi Ernst
Conrad will speak on "Israel's Survival:
Jewish Unity and Reconciliation with
Palestinians — Now."
SHIR SHALOM: Services 8 p.m. today. Amy
Bigman, a rabbinic student at Hebrew
Union College in Cincinnati, will lead
services. Services 11 a.m. tomorrow.
Also: Temple Emanu-El and Shir Tikvah.
Jewelers of Novi
Country Epicure Village
41990 Grand River
Novi, Michigan 48050
(313) 347-0303
REFORM:
CONSERVATIVE:
BETH ABRAHAM HILLEL MOSES: Ser-
vices 6 p.m. today and 8:45 a.m. Satur-
day. Rachel Tessler will chant the
haftarah.
BETH ACHIM: Services 4:45 p.m. today and
8:45 a.m. Saturday. Bart Levish will
chant the haftarah.
Gary S. Weinstein
Graduate Gemologist
B'NAI ISRAEL OF WEST BLOOM-
FIELD: Services 9 a.m. Saturday. Rab-
bi Sherman Kirshner will speak on "Are
There Really Two Dimensions of Life?"
Rabbi Kirshner will chant the haftarah.
B'NAI MOSHE: Services at 4:35 p.m. today
and 8:45 a.m. Saturday. Joel Ungar will
chant the haftarah.
DOWNTOWN SYNAGOGUE: Services 8
1988
CITY TAXES
ALL 1988 CITY OF DETROIT SECOND-HALF
TAX BILLS HAVE BEEN MAILED
'ALL REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX
BILLS FOR THE CITY OF DETROIT have been
mailed. If yo have failed to receive a tax statement,
please request a duplicate by mail or in person at
Room 136 City-County Building, Monday through
Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Interest and
Penalty charges must be added if second-half tax is
not paid by January 17, 1989. Failure to receive a bill
will not defer accrual of interest and penalty.
Kindly include Ward and Item Number when re-
questing bills by mail. Taxpayers may also request
duplicate bills via the telephone at 224-3560.
Tax Information — 224.3560
SECOND HALF DUE
TREASURER
JANUARY 17, 1989 CITY OF DETROIT
SHLOMO RISKIN
Special to the Jewish News
I
1
Harvey Schwartz
348-7259
$25.00
$35.00
FOX & PALACE
WINTER SPECIAL.
Fri. & Sat. Nights
6 1-11 R $200.00
Sun.-Thurs.
6 HR $180.00
THE BRIGHT IDEA -
) send
THE JEWISH NEWS
as a gift
354-6060
AllIEN111111111111111=1111111111111116.
34
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1988
TRADITIONAL:
B'NAI DAVID: Services 5 p.m. today and
8:30 a.m. Saturday. Stuart Friedman will
chant the haftarah.
RECONSTRUCTIONIST•
T'CHIYAH: Services 10 a.m. Saturday con-
ducted by Neil Chapin and Larry
Stettner.
SECULAR-HUMANIST:
BIRMINGHAM TEMPLE: Service 8:30
p.m. today. Rabbi Sherwin Wine will
speak on "Prophecies for 1989."
ORTHODOX:
Bais Chabad of Farmington Hills, Bais
Chabad of West Bloomfield, Beth Jacob-
Mogain Abraham, Beth Tefilo Emanuel
Tikvah, B'nai Israel-Beth Yehudah, B'nai
Jacob, B'nai Zion, Dovid Ben Nuchim,
Mishkan Israel-Nusach H'Ari-Lubavitcher
Center, Shaarey Shomayim, Shomrey
Emunah, Young Israel of Greenfield, Young
Israel of Oak-Woods and Young Israel of
Southfield.
UNAFFILIATED:
Sephardic Community of Greater Detroit.
Blessings And Birthrights
7 Days A Week
24 Hour Service
AIRPORT
LIMO
Also: Mat Shalom, Beth Isaac of Trenton,
Beth Shalom, Beth lephilath Moses of Mount
Clemens, Livonia Jewish Congregation,
Shaarey Zedek and 12 Mile and Pierce (Bais
Yoseph).
TORAH PORTION I--
ALLANTE SUPREME LIMO SERVICE
AIRPORT
CAR
a.m. Saturday. Rabbi Noah Gamze will
speak on "Can Human Beings Bring
About Real Peace?"
n his eulogy for Theodor
Herzl, Rabbi Isaac HaKo-
hen Kook compared the
founder of modern Zionism to
the "messiah from the line of
Joseph." What he was
metaphorically referring to
was the concept of messianic
redemption going through
stages: the first messiah
emerging from the seed of
Joseph in preparation for the
messiah from the seed of
Judah (via King David) who
will bring forth the complete
redemption.
What is the significance of
having two messianic stages?
In this week's portion,
Vayechi, Jacob bequeathes
the blessings to his sons, a
moment resonating with his
own personal triumph of sur-
vival against all odds. Thus,
with Jacob's death, the Book
of Genesis closes on the first
major cycle in Jewish his-
tory—not with a whisper, but
with blessings, two of which,
Joseph's and Judah's, drama-
tize the curve of Jewish
history.
Blessings should not be con-
fused with birthrights. In the
age of patriarchs, a blessing
was a double portion of in-
heritance not given to other
heirs. The birthright deals
with a spiritual heritage.
When Jacob "steals" Esau's
blessing by impersonating his
brother the hunter, Esau's
rage continues for the next 20
years. In sharp contrast to the
birthright which a famished
Esau sells for a bowl of soup,
there is no reaction of outrage
or revenge. The price is so
cheap because a birthright
relates to the eventual leader-
ship and responsibility for the
Jewish people, a low priority
on Esau's agenda.
The distinction between bir-
thright and the "blessing of
the double portion" is cap-
tured when, instead of sin-
gling out Reuven, his oldest,
Jacob bestows the b'chorah
upon Judah and the "double
blessing" upon Joseph, or
more specifically, his two sons
Ephraim and Menashe, who
thus receive tribal status.
"Joseph is a fruitful vine .. .
its branches run over the
wall." (Genesis 49:22) Their
eventual share of the land is
vast.
No one except Judah is
blessed like Joseph, but what
Judah receives is the birth-
right, a spiritual mantle.
". . .The sceptre shall not
depart from Judah . . . and un-
to him shall the obedience of
the people be." (Genesis 49:10)
The land of Ephraim is
blessed with prosperity and
riches, and the land of Judah
is blessed with its religious
heart. Jerusalem, the seat of
the Holy Temple, is in Judea.
David, a shepherd from the
land of Efrat in Judea,
becomes king and, through
his seed, the waited messiah
will one day redeem the na-
tion and the world. History
bears out Jacob's blessings to
the extent that the "sceptre
never parts from Judah" even
when Judah is sent into exile
where he still manages to
keep the flame of Judaism
alive.
But Ephraim, tragically,
does not survive the exile.
When the ten tribes of the
Northern Kingdom, whose
base of powcr was Ephraim,
are attacked by Assyria in