TORAH PORTION
I'
eongrecjationth Achim
Where Family and Tradition are Foremost
• Men's Club • Sisterhood
• Young at Heart (55 and over)
• Havurot
• Affiliated Youth Groups
• Shabbat Youth Services Ages 3-17
• Cultural Programs
• Adult Education
-• Scholar in Residence
• Family Shabbat Dinners
• Library
• United Hebrew School Branch (in our building)
WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING NEW MEMBERS
For Information call -.352-8670
Philip Vainik, Executive Director
Rabbi Milton Arm
Rabbi Martin Berman, Associate Rabbi
Rabbi Emeritus Benjamin Gorrelick
Cantor Max Shimansky
Reverend Joseph Boras
Youth Director Elana Shelef
President Abe Gamer
21100 WEST TWELVE MILE ROAD
SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN 48076
B.H.
Looking for a Shul that will stimulate
your mind and your heart?
Check out
The Dais Chabad Torah Center
5595 W. Maple
W. Bloomfield, Mt
Our Families Would Like to Welcome Yours!
* Couples Groups
* Youth Groups
* Classes in all areas of Judaism
* Book and Tape Library
* Children's Library
* Mikvoh
*"Guest Lecture Series
* Shabbatons
Some Holiday Seats Still Available
For more information call
626-1807 or 855-6170
Rabbi
President
Elimelech Silberberg Martin Goodman
46 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1989
The Simple, Inescapable Truth
That Comes With First Fruits
SHLOMO RISKIN
Special to The Jewish News
B
ack in New York I
didn't know too many
people who grew
grapes in the backyard, but
even if they had, it's unlikely
that a rabbi would have been
invited to their homes for a
ceremony called the neta
revaii. That is the fourth plan-
ting, a name that refers to the
law of orla, which forbids
eating the fruit of a tree dur-
ing the first three years of its
cultivation, and calls for
bringing the fourth-year
fruits to Jerusalem.
When the Temple still
stood, fruits of the fourth year
were either brought to
Jerusalem or their value
redeemed and the money
spent in Jerusalem. lbday, in
Israel, the fruits of the fourth
planting are redeemed with a
coin, similar to the coin used
for the redemption of "offer-
ings" and "tithings" (truma
and maaser) which also must
be removed before we can eat
from the fruit.
The laws of orla, truma, and
maaser make it clear that
eating kosher can apply to
much more than just meat;
but the first and foremost re-
quirement in the Ibrah con-
cerning fruit produce was the
special, annual ceremony
called bikkurim, the "bring-
ing of the first fruits" to
Jerusalem, which is how this
week's portion begins.
"When you come to the
land . . . you shall bring the
Shabbat Ki Tavo:
Deuteronomy
26:1-29:8,
Isaiah 60:1-22.
first of every fruit of the earth
produced by your land that
God your Lord is giving you.
You must. place it in a basket,
and bring it to the site that
God will choose . ..." (Deut. 26
1-2)
Maimonides, in his Guide to
the Perplexed, Part Three,
Chapter 39, clarifies that the
law of bikkurim is intended to
strengthen our absolute feal-
ty to God by teaching us the
basic lesson that everything
is a gift from God.
The Akedath Yitzchak,
Rabbi Yitzchak Arama, goes
a step further in his comment
on the verse, "And you shall
take of all the fruit of the
earth, which you shall bring
in from your land which God
has given you." He explains
that initially the Ibrah refers
to "your land" because we
often take it for granted that
the land is ours, but im-
mediately the text corrects
our misconception by poin-
ting out that this is the land
". . which God has given
you." Accepting the idea of
this land as a gift from God
prevents us from strutting
with overwhelming pride.
The land is only in our care,
a nation of tenant farmers,
and the lord of the land is the
Lord Himself.
Understanding that the
land is a gift humbles us. Fur-
thermore, if I internalize the
feeling that everything I have
is a gift from God, I don't real-
ly expect anything - and an
_SYNAGOGUE SERVICES
ORTHODOX:
Bais Chabad of Birm-
ingham/Bloomfield Hills: Moshe
Polter, rabbi. 646-3010.
Bais Chabad of Farmington
Hills: 32000 Middlebelt Rd., Farm-
ington Hills. Chaim Bergstein, rab-
bi. 855-2910.
Bais Chabad of West Bloomfield:
5595 W. Maple Rd., West Bloom-
field. Melech Silberberg, rabbi.
855-6170.
Beth Jacob-Mogain Abraham:
15751 W. Lincoln Dr., Southfield.
Dov Loketch, rabbi. 557-6750.
Beth mfilo Emanuel Tikvah:
24225 Greenfield Rd., Southfield.
Leiter Levin, rabbi. 559-5022.
B'nai Israel-Beth Yehudah:
15400 W. 10 Mile Rd., Oak Park.
Yoel Sperka, rabbi. 967-3969.
B'nai Zion: 15250 W. Nine Mile
Rd., Oak Park. Solomon Gruskin,
rabbi. 968-2414.
Dovid Ben Nuchim: 14800 W Lin-
coln, Oak Park. Chaskel Grubner,
rabbi. 968-9784.
Kollel Institute: 15230 W. Lincoln,
Oak Park. Moshe Schwab, rabbi.
968-0109.
Mishkan Israel, Nusach H'ari,
Lubavitcher Center: 14000 W. 9
Mile Rd., Oak Park. 543-6611.
Shaarey Shomayim: 15110 W. 10
Mile Rd., Oak Park. Leo Goldman,
rabbi. 547-8555.
Shomrey Emunah:
25451
Southfield Rd., Southfield. Shaiall
Zachariash, rabbi. 559-1533 or
557-9666.
Shomrey Emunah-Ohel Moed:
6191 Farmington Rd., West Bloom-
field. Eli Jundef, rabbi. 967-1806.
Young Israel of Greenfield: 15140
W. 10 Mile Rd., Oak Park. Reuven
Drucker, rabbi. 967-3655.
Young Israel of Oak-Woods:
24061 Coolidge, Oak Park. Eliezer
Cohen, rabbi. 398-1177.
Young Israel of Southfield: 27705
Lahser, Southfield. Elimelech
Goldberg, rabbi. 358-0154.
Young Israel of Bloomfield: 6450
Farmington Rd., West Bloomfield.
Ira Lutzky, 259-8500.
TRADITIONAL:
B'nai David: 24350 Southfield Rd.,
Southfield. Morton Yolkut, rabbi.
557-8210.
B'nai. Israel of West Bloomfield:
4200 Walnut Lake Rd., West Bloom-
field. Sherman Kirshner, rabbi.
681-5353.
CONSERVATIVE:
Adat Shalom: 29901 Middlebelt
Rd., Farmington Hills. Efry Spectre,
rabbi. 851-5100.
Beth Abraham Hillel Moses:
5075 W. Maple, West Bloomfield. A.
Irving Schnipper, rabbi. 851-6880.
Beth Achim: 21100 W. 12 Mile Rd.,
Southfield. Milton Arm, rabbi.
352-8670:
Beth Shalom: 14601 W. Lincoln
Rd., Oak Park. David Nelson, rab-
bi. 547-7970.
Beth Tephilath Moses: 146 South
Ave., Mt. Clemens. 465-0641.
B'nai Moshe: 14390 W. 10 Mile
Rd., Oak Park. Allan Meyerowitz,
rabbi. 548-9000.
Downtown Synagogue: 1457
Griswold, Detroit. Noah Gamze,
rabbi. 961-9328.
Livonia Jewish Congregation:
31840 W. 7 Mile Rd., Livonia.
477-8974.
Shaarey Zedek: 27375 Bell Rd.,
Southfield. Irwin Groner, rabbi.
357-5544.
REFORM:
Beth El: 7400 Telegraph Rd., Bir-
mingham. Daniel Polish, rabbi.
851-1100.
Beth Isaac: 2730 Edsel Dr., Tren-
ton. 675-0355.
Beth Jacob: 79 Elizabeth Lake
Rd., Pontiac. Richard Weiss, rabbi.
332-3212.
Emanu-El: 14450 W. 10 Mile Rd.,
Oak Park. Lane Steinger, rabbi.
9674020.
Temple Israel: 5725 Walnut Lake
Rd., West Bloomfield. M. Robert
Syme, Harold Loss, Paul Yedwab,
rabbis. 661-5700.
Kol Ami: 5085 Walnut Lake Rd.,
West Bloomfield. Norman Roman,
rabbi. 661-0040.
Shir Shalom: 5642 Maple Rd.,
West Bloomfield. Dannel Schwartz,
rabbi. 737-8700.
Shir Tikvah: 3633 W. Big Beaver,
Troy. Arnie Sleutelberg, rabbi.
643-6520.
HUMANISTIC:
Birmingham Temple: 28611 W. 12
Mile Rd., Farmington Hills. Sher-
win Wine, rabbi. 477-1410.
RECONSTRUCTIONIST:
T'Chiyah: St. Antoine at Monroe,
Detroit. 393-1089.
UNAFFILIATED:
Sephardic Community of
Greater Detroit: meets at
Yeshivah Beth Yehudah, 15751 W.
Lincoln, Southfield. David Hazan,
vice president. 545-8945.
.