TORAH PORTION Temple Emanuel HAPPENINGS April, 1989 14450 West Ten Mile Rood Oak Park, Michigan 48237 (414) 967-4020 RABBI LANE STEINGER APRIL 1— 9:30 a.m. Torah Study with the Rabbi 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service 2-10:00 a.m. EMANU-ELS-MATURE & EXCITING SET MEETS 7— 7:30 p.m. FAMILY SHABBAT SERVICE, BRING THE CHILDREN LISA GARBER, BAT MITZVAH 8— 9:30 a.m. Torah Study with the Rabbi 10:15 a.m. Young Family Shabbat Service 2-7 year olds and parents. 10:30 a.m. Shabbat morning service Joshua Lichtman, Bar Mitzvah 9— 9:00 a.m. Parent Temple Organization 14— 8:15 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service Signed for the hearing impaired Scott Page, Bar Mitzvah 15— 9:30 a.m. Torah Study with theRabbi 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service Rebecca Ulanoff, Bat Mitzvah 16-10:45 a.m. "It's My Temple Too!" Program for 2-5 yr. olds with Parents and the Rabbi 20-10:30 a.m. Passover Service — first day. 6:30 p.m. Temple Sedar — CALL OFFICE FOR DETAILS 21— 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Service at Temple 8:00 p.m. Issac M. Wise Service at Temple Israel 22— 9:30 a.m,. Torah Study with the Rabbi 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service 23- RELIGIOUS SCHOOL VACATION 25— 7:30 p.m. Passover — Eve of 7th Day 26-10:30 a.m. Pesach Yizkor Service 28— 8:15 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service Todd & Jeffrey Alderman, B'nai Mitzvah 29— 9:30 a.m. Torah Study with the Rabbi 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service Matthew Lusardi, Bar Mitzvah MAY 5— 7:30 p.m. FAMILY SHABBAT SERVICE, BRING THE CHILDREN Steven Friedman, Bar Mitzvah 6— 9:30 a.m. Torah Study with the Rabbi 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service Brandon Rubin, Bar Mitzvah Temple Israel's Solo (Jewish Parents Who Happen To Be Single) presents a Continental Breakfast with Dr. Sonya Friedman Speaking on "Single Parenting" April 9, 1989 10:00 a.m. Temple Israel Herman Hall 5725 Walnut Lake Rd. West Bloomfield Free Admission Guests Welcome For more information 661-5700 44 FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1989 Why Did Nadav And Avihu Meet Such A Grim Fate? RABBI NOAH GAMZE Special to the Jewish News I n the Torah portion of this week we read, "And Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, put fire therein, and put incense upon it, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And there came forth fire from before the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord." (Leviticus X:1-2). The questions that im- mediately come to mind are Noah Gamze is rabbi of the Downtown Synagogue. what caused them to engage in such folly, and why they met with such a grim fate. Our sages suggested several possible answers to these questions, which are intert- wined. The most probable answer is that of Rabbi Ishmael, who said, "Intox- icated with wine they entered into the sanctuary." A few verses later we read, "And the Lord spoke unto Aaron, say- ing: Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not; it shall be a statute forever throughout your genera- tions." (Leviticus X:8-9). It is true that Judaism does not advocate prohibition, and SYNAGOGUE SERVICES REFORM: BETH EL: Services 8 p.m. today. Mazon Executive Director Ir- ving Cramer will speak. Torah Study 9:30 a.m. Saturday, services 11 a.m. Rabbi Julian Cook will speak on "An Alien Fire." BETH JACOB: Services 8:30 p.m. today. Rabbi Richard Weiss will speak on "Just What the Doctor Ordered: Reflections on Becoming a Doctor." KOL AMI: Services 8 p.m. today. Rabbi Norman Roman will speak on his mission to Italy and Romania. Torah study 9:30 a.m. Saturday, services 10:30 a.m. TEMPLE ISRAEL: Services 8 p.m. today. Rabbi Paul Yedwab will speak on "Nadav and Avihu: Thou Shalt Not Drink and Drive." Rebbe's tish 9:30 a.m. Saturday, services 10:30 a.m. SHIR SHALOM: Services 8 p.m. today. Rabbi Darnel Schwartz will speak on "Will the Real April Fool Please Stand Up." Services 11 a.m. SHIR TIKVAH: Services 7:45 p.m. today conducted by Mar- tha Churchill and Lauren Korn. CONSERVATIVE: BETH ACHIM: Services 6 p.m. today and 8:45 a.m. Saturday. Harry Ellenson will chant the haftara. BETH ABRAHAM HILLEL MOSES: Services 6 p.m. today and 8:45 a.m. Saturday. Fred Smith will chant the haftara. Dedication of the synagogue's art. BETH SHALOM: Services 6 p.m. today and 9 a.m. Saturday. Kevin Lubaski will chant the haftara. B'NAI ISRAEL OF WEST BLOOMFIELD: Anniversary and Birthday Shabbat. Services 9 a.m. Saturday. Rabbi Sher- man Kirshner will speak on "Kashrut Is Alive and Faring Well!" Steven Medow will chant the haftara. B'NAI MOSHE: Men's Club Shabbat. Services 6:30 p.m. to- day and 8:45 a.m. Saturday. Leonard Wanetik will chant the haftara. DOWNTOWN SYNAGOGUE: Services 8 a.m. Saturday. Rabbi Noah Gamze will speak on "The Sons of Aaron." TRADITIONAL: B'NAI DAVID: Services 6 p.m. today and 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Joseph Viedrah will chant the haftara. RECONSTRUCTIONIST: T'CHIYAH: Services 10 a.m. Saturday conducted by Susan Gold Smith and Amanda Poland. SECULAR-HUMANIST: BIRMINGHAM TEMPLE: Service 8:30 p.m. today. The Templesingers will perform "The Road to Zion: A Secular View." that our people have con- sidered the moderate use of wine a normal part of life. In fact, the Bible tells us, "And wine maketh glad the heart of man." (Psalms CIV:15). At the same time, there is strong disapproval of overindulgence in wine and other alcoholic beverages. The midrashic comments upon this chapter of the Torah cite numerous examples of the unfortunate results of excessive drinking. Speaking of the chronic drunkard our sages say, "He will make his house like a bare plain, saying: what this brass pot does, an earthen- ware pot can do. He sells it and drinks wine with the pro- ceeds. Rabbi Isaac ben Radifa said in the name of Rabbi Ammi, "In the end he sells his household articles, and drinks wine with the pro- ceeds." The more one studies these verses, the more one sees how applicable they are to our times. It is clear from the Torah that when the priests approached the altar to per- form the sacrifices, they had to be cold sober and clear- headed. If the performance of the sacrificial rituals — every step of which was definitely established — required a mind not clouded by any substance that could affect judgement, then certainly the use of complex and sophisticated modern equip- ment that may involve split- second decisions would re- quire this same clarity of judgement. Making a wrong decision in such cases may not only involve serious finan- cial loss, but may result in death or injury. We need only consider the toll of deaths and injuries caused by drunken drivers. Perhaps the fate of Nadav and Avihu will cause us to understand that substance abuse is not the monopoly of any one religious, racial or ethnic group. For many years, we Jews had a reputation for sobriety. This is no longer the case. While we have a higher degree of sobriety than other groups, we can no longer af- ford to look upon alcoholism as a gentile problem. We do have persons addicted to drugs and alcohol within the Jewish community. A strong temptation exists to deny the existence of this problem, but any such denial would only make matters worse. It is gratifying that we are becoming more aware of