religions that focus on death
and the next world.
Our task, in the often
quoted words of the
paragraph after the prayer
Aleynu, is "lb repair the
world under the rule of God."
This world. One of the
reasons that Judaism pro-
hibits a Kohen, a priest, from
coming into contact with the
dead — a prohibition that is,
to the best of my knowledge,
unique among the world's
religions — is that this world
and life, not the next world
and death, must be the
priest's sanctifying
preoccupation.
But the Jewish affiramtion
of this world in no way im-
plies that this is all there is.
Jews who deny the existence
of any reality beyond this life
are not only denying a basic
teaching of Judaism. They
are also denying what is
logically axiomatic to God's
existence.
Since Judaism, and all
monotheistic religion, is
predicated upon the existence
of a God who is non-physical
and beyond nature, and who
is just and loving, this
physical existence of ours, by
sheer logic, cannot be the on-
ly reality. It defies logic to
hold that the non-physical
God would create a world
whose only reality is physical.
It is equally illogical that a
just and loving God would
create a world wherein the
sum total of the existence of
any of his creations would be
cruel suffering. To state this ,
case as starkly as possible, if
there is nothing after this life,
then the Nazis and the Jew-
ish children they threw alive
into Auschwitz furnaces have
identical fates. If I believed
such a thing, I would either
becomed an atheist or hate
this God who had created
such a cruelly absurd uni-
verse. In either case, I certain-
ly would cease leading a
Jewish life.
There are yet other pro-
blems with believed that this
life is the only reality. Those
who hold this position are
likely to be led to one of three
negative conclusions about
life.
One is hedonism. If this
physical life is all I have, then
it is very logical to live a life
pursuing pleasure. If the
physical is the one reality, let
me experience as much phy-
sical joy as I can. As John
Silber, president of Boston
University, recently said, the
message today is, "You can go
around once in life, so get all
the gusto you can."
Another conclusion is
radicalism. Many secular
Jews for example, heirs to
thousands of years of,
May the coming
May the coming
year be filled
year be filled
with health and
with health and
happiness for
happiness for
all our family
all our family
and friends.
and friends.
SHEILA & JAMES PRENZLAUER
SHAWN, BA & CHAD WEINBAUM
ROBERT, KATHERINE & AUDREY RICHMAN
GREGORY, JUDY & ALANA EPSTEIN
May the coming
May the coming
year be filled
year be filled
with health and
with health and
happiness for
happiness for
all our family
all our family
and friends.
and friends.
FRANK & JUDY ROSNER
ARIELLE & JEREMY
MARILYN & MEL
ROTHENBERG
1711. 3T1 nayz
A Very Happy and Healthy
New Year to All Our Friends
and Family.
THE SHUSTERS
JEFFREY, RHONDA, DANNY & AMANDA
A Very Happy and Healthy
New Year to All Our Friends
and Family.
A Very Happy and Healthy
New Year to All Our Friends
and Family.
DR. & MRS. MORRIS STARKMAN & FAMILY
varon 111115 i1lt13`2
to all
our friends
and relatives.
to all
our friends
and relatives.
MR. & MRS. LEO WEBER
MR. & MRS. HARRY WEISS
& LOVED ONES
A Very Happy and Healthy
New Year to All Our Friends
and Family.
MORIS AND ELKA TAMA
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
JERRY SHARE—KANSAS CITY
FRAN, LORA & BRIAN STERN
LILLIAN & HARRY PAULL
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
REUBEN & DOROTHY
SHERMAN
LESLIE & TERRI SWARTZ
ERIC & MICHAEL
HARRY, ANDREA, JASON & STEPHANIE POTACH
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
MERLE & SELMA SILVERMAN
& FAMILY
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
CHARLES & BARBARA TOBIAS
FRANK & FAY RADZINSKI
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
GERRIE & MIKE SPALTER
TRACEY, ALAN &
ALYSSA TROTSKY
WILLIAM & GAIL ROSSEN
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
GLORIA & SANFORD STACEY,
FRAN & MARK
IRVING &
PEARL WEINGARDEN
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
,
AGI & ZOLI RUBIN & FAMILY
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 93