I TORAH PORTION I ANNUAL MEETING OF THE JEWISH WELFARE FEDERATION OF DETROIT Nominees to the Board of Governors Pursuant to the bylaws of the JEWISH WELFARE FEDERATION OF DETROIT, the following list of nominees, selected from the membership of the Federation, eligible for election to the Board of Governors of the Federation, has been presented to the Executive Vice-President not less than thirty days prior to the Annual Meeting, to take place on Tuesday, September 26 at Adat Shalom Synagogue at 6:30 p.m. Treating Each Individual Equally Before Hashem FOR RE-ELECTION 3-Year Term Ending in 1992 Rabbi Irwin Groner Helen Shevin RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN Special to The Jewish News Robert G. Slatkin p Robert Sosnick FOR ELECTION 3-Year Term Ending in 1992 Penny Blumenstein Stanley D. Frankel Joel Gershenson Edward C. Levy, Jr. Benjamin H. Rosenthal Other persons may be nominated by petition or petitions signed by not fewer than 25 members of the Federation and filed with the Executive Vice-President of the Fed- eration not less than ten days prior to the date of the Annual Meeting. Only one person may be nominated in each petition and no nomination shall be valid unless the nominees have consented to be a candidate. 1989 NOMINATING COMMITTEE David Handleman Chairman Mandell L. Berman Paul D. Borman Milton H. Goidrath, M.D. Doreen Hermelin Joel D. Tauber JEWISH WELFARE FEDERATION OF DETROIT Martin S. 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Bev and Sue 661 - 0177 Call The Jewish News 354.6060 FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 1989 cn 5 3 go U) • O re; • invitations For All Occasions • CLASSIFIEDS GET RESULTS! 42 CD aul Simon wrote a fas- cinating song entitled "The Sound of Silence" which frighteningly captures a truth of our socie- ty: "People talking without speaking; people hearing without listening." A member of my former synagogue in Manhattan told me of an encounter between his father and a rabbi ac- quaintance of his. "How are you?" the rabbi politely enquired. "My wife died two weeks ago," the gentleman responded. "That's nice. And how is business?" continued the rab- bi, who obviously had asked his second question before listening to the answer to his first. So ingrained within our social fabric is this habit of not listening that Emily Post insists that the only proper answer to the question, "How are you?" is "How are you?" Since people rarely listen to how you really are. Indeed, it is commonplace to notice that while in the midst of making a point to a friend, the friend is already formulating his response — without really listening to what you are try- ing to say. It is probably because of this that disco music is so loud; we don't listen to each other anyway, so you might as well drown out any conversation. And if you're accustomed to not listening to others, you stop listening to yourself as well. The 'Ibrah reading of this week commands a judicial system that would satisfy even Paul Simon. "And I charged you judges . . . say- ing: listen between your brothers and judge righteous- ly between a man and his brother and his stranger." [Deuteronomy 1:16] Rashi, apparently noted the im- perative nature of this verse and stressed its similarity to the imperatives concerning Shabbat; remember and observe. In other words, the judge is commanded to do what few others are mental- ly and emotionally equipped to do: the judge is responsible to listen. The Hebrew clearly bears out this message. "Le'haazin"means to hear and has strictly an audial Rabbi Shlomo Riskin lives in Efrat, Israel. connotation (to hear with the ear); "lishmoa" means to in- ternalize, to accept in your gut (ma'a means innards), to truly listen to the litigant's case. Indeed, the third chapter of the tractate Sanhedrin, the first mishnah, speaks of the ideal and usual ad hoc court for civil affairs, in which each litigant chooses a qualified judge and the two judges choose the third qualified judge. Rabbenu Asher, the 14th century talmudic commentary, notes (ad locum) that once the judge has been chosen by a litigant he will naturally, and becomes duty bound to, listen carefully to that litigant's case and search for ways in Shabbat Chazon: Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22, Isaiah 1:1-27 which to support his position — of course, without falsifying or withholding evidence. And the Thrall continues, endeavoring to make certain that the judge will not be guided by preconceptions: "You shall not respect persons in judgement; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid before any man, for the judgement is God's." [Deuteronomy 1:17] The biblical words could not be any clearer: if a judge has a litigation with a tailor, or a religious scholar with a secular ignoramus, the judge may not "recognize" for former over the latter. If he feels that he cannot be objec- tive, he must disqualify himself. Moreover, a case in- volving little money must not take a back seat to a million dollar arbitration: first come, first served, and the prior litigant dare not be treated any less respectfully than the wealthy one. The judge must be able to stand up to a powerful litigant and render justice to all with equity, whether the defendant's name be Oliver North or Jonathan Pollard! And even if a student is sit- ting in the courtroom and sees a point against the case of the more powerful litigant, despite the fact that he is not acting in the capacity of a judge, he must nevertheless speak up, for "you shall not be afraid, or hold back your words, before any man." [B.T. Sandhedrin 6b, 7a] And that which gives one the courage to execute such a judicial