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GYM EQUIPMENT (ALL ITEMS DISCOUNTED) LARRY ARONOFF ACTON RENTAL & SALES 891.6500 48 540.5550 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1990 The newest lighting showroom featuring: • lamps • fixtures • bulbs inside Colony Interiors 851-1881 West Bloomfield PERSONALIZED POETRY CANDLELIGHTING AND MORE BY FRANCY COLTON 681.9391 Breast self-examination — LEARN. Call us. AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY . Where Does The Torah's Effectiveness Really Lie? RABBI MORTON YOLKUT Special to The Jewish News T wo traditions con- cerning the manner in which the Jewish people received the Torah at Mt. Sinai have been transmit- ted to us. The biblical tradition as recorded in this week's sidra describes in glowing terms the enthusiasm and fervor that marked the revelation. Later, the text informs us that the Israelites proudly proclaimed: Naaseh ve- nishma — "We shall do and we shall hearken." In their passionate desire to receive the divine law they even put the naaseh (practice) before the nishma (understanding). The rabbinic tradition, on the other hand, describes our ancestors as quite reluctant to embrace and accept the Torah. In fact, the Talmud teaches that the Israelites refused to accept the law un- til God forced it upon them by holding the mountain over their heads and threatening to crush them unless they ac- cepted. (T.B. Shabbat 88a) All our commentators are troubled by the obvious discrepancy between the two traditions. We are dealing here, after all, with a historical event that could have occurred only in one par- ticular manner. Why, then, this divergence of opinion? One answer suggests that the biblical narrative refers to the written law, which the Jewish people were more than willing to accept. But the rabbinic tradition alludes to the oral law — the Torah she'be'al peh — which our ancestors received only after divine coersion. The question still remains: Why should we draw a distinction between the oral and written law? According to our tradition, both possess equal validity and are equal- ly binding upon every Jew Why, then, were the Israelites eager and willing to accept the written law but far less enthusiastic about receiving the oral tradition? The answer is an important lesson in itself. Most people find a written law far less threatening than an oral law that requires continuous transmission and implemen- tation. A Torah she'bi'ktav is perfectable acceptable as long as it remains just that — a Morton Yolkut is senior rabbi of Congregation B'nai David. written law on parchment or paper. Every nation is proud to display exalted charters that glorify human rights and ex- alt human and divine aspira- tions. Such written documents are admired and revered as long as they re- main Torah she'bi'ktav — written on parchment or etch- ed on tablets of stone, obligating no one anything. But when you demand that this Torah become a living Torah — a Torah she'be'al peh — to be communicated from teacher to student, from parent to chid, from one generation to the next — such a Torah becomes unaccep- table, except under duress. The 20th century has seen the evolution of a number of glorious written charters in- cluding Wilson's 14 Points, Shabbat Yitro: Exodus 18:1-20:23, Isaiah 6:1-7:6, 9:5-6. the Atlantic Charter, the Four Freedoms and the United Na- tions Charter. All were eager- ly accepted and applauded as precursors of a new era of peace and brotherhood. But with all the marvelous pro- mises contained in the writ- ten documents, those sublime goals remain as elusive as ever, nor has the world been transformed. We forget that charters are not works of art to remain forever enshrined in national museums. They must be translated into oral laws that govern man's conduct and behavior. One of the saddest moments of my recent visit to Poland was seeing the ubiquitous restoration of a number of synagogues. These syna- gogues have been completely restored to their original beauty by the Polish govern- ment. They are now monu- ments to the vital Jewish life that once thrived in Poland before the Holocaust and is no more. The arks that remain in those synagogues — without worshipers — are ornamental, polished and attractive. But for me they were merely caskets for the remains of a religion that no longer flourishes and, indeed, bare- ly exists in Poland today. Our greatest tribute to the memory of Polish Jewry will be our resolve to uphold the