TORAH PORTION

LAS VEGAS NIGHT

• Black Jack • Roulette • Craps
• Over and Under • Beat the Dealer

sponsored by

CONGREGATION B'NAI ISRAEL

4200 Walnut Lake Rd., W Bloomfield
(1 block W. of Orchard Lake Rd.)

a.m.

Saturday, October 27, 1990, 8:00

Donation $5.00

Door Prize Drawing

For further information, call
the synagogue office 681-5 3 5 3

M1700863R

CONGREGATION BETH ABRAHAM HILLEL MOSES
Cultural Commission

invites you to an evening with

REV. JAMES LYONS

Director of the Ecumenical Institute for
Jewish - Christian Studies

TOPIC

"Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative
and Don't Mess with Mr. In-Between"

Thursday, October 18, 1990

7:30 P.M.

5075 W. Maple Road West Bloomfield, MI 851-6880

COMMUNITY INVITED

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54

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Potential

Continued from preceding page

says, "Let us make man";
Rabbi Malbim explains that
this "making refers to the
creation of the physical body
and the basic life force which
vivifies it. This "making" of
man represents the arrival of
a refined, superior version of
the living creatures that
preceded it during the six
days of creation. According
to Rabbi Malbim's formula-
tion, were man only "made,"
he would indeed be merely
the last species in an evolu-
tionary progression.
Man, however, is not only
superior but also unique and
qualitatively different from
the rest of creation. The rIbrah
attests to this difference in its
use of the verb created. Rab-
bi Malbim explains that God
once again created ex nihilo
when He endowed man with
his Godly soul. Of all crea-
tion, only man possesses this
spiritual capability. Man, by
virtue of being created
b'tzelem Elokim, is capable of
reflecting the Divine, as the
moon reflects the sun.
Rabbi Samson Raphael
Hirsch, in contrast to Rabbi
Malbim, synthesizes the
physical and spiritual nature
of man. Rabbi Hirsch
understands the "image of
God" in a physical sense and
writes "if all the compassion
and love, the truth and equi-
ty and holiness of the Divine
rule wishes to appear cased in
an exterior visible form, it
would appear in the figure
which the Creator gave man."
Man's physical body is
b'tzelem ilokim, "worthy of
God and commensurate with
the Godly calling of man."
Rabbi Hirsch points out that
man jeopardizes the achieve-
ment of his divine mission if
He relegates his notion of
Godliness to the spiritual
realm and allows his body to
indulge in animal-like
license. The purpose of the
Torah, Rabbi Hirsch says, is to
infuse man's physical ex-
istence with spiritual
significance.
Echoing Rabbi Hirsch's
theme, the Abarbanel ex-
plains that the Hebrew word
tzelem derives from the word
tzel (shadow). Just as a
shadow is integrally linked to
its matter, so too, man's
nature is a synthesis of the
physical and spiritual, the .
body and soul, the human
and Godlike.
The Rambam (Maimonides)
understands "image of God"
as referring to man's intellect.
Other rabbis interpret it as
man's ability to exercise free
choice. These interpretations
contribute significant addi-
tional dimension to the
distinction between man and
the rest of creation. Man can

think, reason and understand
right from wrong. Man is held
accountable for his actions, as
indicated by the accounts of
Adam and Eve and Cain and
Abel, and as reflected in the
way we view ourselves each
Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur.
The Alter from Slobodka, an
early master of the Mussar
movement, teaches that every
creation testifies to the ex-
istence of its creator. Man,
however, because of the divine
spark within him, has the
continual responsibility to act

Bereshit:
Genesis 1:1-6:8,
Isaiah 42:5-43:10

in such a way that he not on-
ly testifies to the existence of
God but also reveals and
makes recognizable the
similarity between himself
and his Creator.
Our rabbis clearly unders-
tand tzelem Elokim in
numerous ways. Common to
all these interpretations is
the idea that the tzelem
Elokim endows man with pro-
found moral and spiritual
potential. Man is the last
creature created and he is
given dominion over all of
creation. He is to develop and
civilize the world in a respon-
sible way. His fulfillment of
that task will make him a
partner with God and will
give eloquent testimony to his
being created "in the image
of God." CI

SYNAGOGUES I

Synagogue Group
Hosts Lyons

The Cultural Commission
of Congregation Beth
Abraham Hillel Moses will
sponsor an evening with Rev.

James Lyon

James R. Lyons 7:30 p.m. Oct.
18 at the synagogue.
Rev. Lyons is founder and
director of the Ecumenical In-