TORAH PORTION
PROJECT
ACHIM
"How pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together"
Project Achim is proud to announce that we are again pro-
viding the community with Hebrew-Russian Haggados for
all families who will be hosting New Americans at their
seder.
Please call Mrs. Grinman at our Achim office 967-5888 be-
tween now and Thursday. We have also made this service
available through JEFF and Yad Ezra.
We wish to extend our great thanks to the many families
throughout our community who have made our new found
brothers and sisters feel a welcome part of the Jewish com-
munity. May we all together enjoy a wonderful and kosher
Pesach.
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Machon L:Torah Rabbi Avrohom Jacobovitz • Merkaz Rabbi David Simcha • NCSY Rabbi Mark Cohn
• Project Achim of Windsor Rabbi Yossel Rosenzweig • Yeshiva Gedolah Ateres Mordechai
Rabbi Eric Krohner • Yeshivat Akiva Rabbi Zev Shimansky, Rabbi Marc Volk • Yeshivath Beth
Yehudah Beth Jacob Rabbi Avrohom A. Freedman, Rabbi E. B. Freedman, Rabbi Raphael Skaist •
Young Israel Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg, Chairman.
-
15221 WEST TEN MILE, OAK PARK, MICHIGAN 48237
(313) 967-5888
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FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1991
An Act Of Defiance,
A Major Turning Point
RABBI MORTON YOLKUT
Special to The Jewish News
E
ach of the four special
Sabbaths prior to Pass-
over has a Torah
reading from a sacred scroll to
inform us of the thematic link
between that Sabbath and
the upcoming festival of
Pesach.
On the Sabbath of
Shekalim, we read about the
half-shekel donation given
during the month preceding
Passover. On the Sabbath of
Zachor, we read about
Amalek, Israel's first post-
liberation enemy. On the Sab-
bath of Parah, we read about
the spiritual purification pro-
cess as it applied in antiqui-
ty. On Shabbat Hachodesh,
we read that the month of
Passover is to be "the first of
the months" on the Jewish
calendar.
On this Shabbat Hagadol,
the Great Sabbath just prior
to Passover, there is no second
scroll and no special biblical
reading. The reason is that
the essence of Shabbat
Hagadol transcends any verse
or chapter in our Torah. It is
religion itself.
Why was this particular
Sabbath, the last before
Passover, singled out as the
Great Sabbath?
In the year of the Exodus
from Egypt, the tenth day of
the month of Nisan fell on the
Sabbath. On that day, the
Jewish people were in-
structed to go out and prepare
a lamb, the chief diety of the
Egyptians. If asked about the
lamb, the Israelites were to
explain that they intended to
offer it in four days as a
Passover sacrifice. In Egypt
this was a sacrilegious,
radical and dangerous act,
one that no Hebrew slave
would ever had previously
dared. And when the day
came, the Israelites stood the
test; the people disregarded
the mortal danger involved in
executing this command-
ment. They accepted the dic-
tates of a higher authority, of
obeying His word rather than
cowering before the
Egyptians.
This act of defiance on the
last Sabbath prior to the first
Passover marked a major tur-
ning point in Jewish history,
the moment when our
ancestors. stopped fearing
their Egyptian masters and
demonstrated their belief in
the master of the world. It
Morton Yolkut is rabbi of
Congregation B'nai David.
was the first time in our
history when the Jewish peo-
ple openly declared their faith
in God, despite the threats to
their survival. Without this
faith, Jewish history could
not begin.
The Talmud teaches, "The
prophet came and condensed
the whole of Judaism to one
major principle — tzadik
b'emunato yicheyeh, the
righteous man lives by his
faith." And that is why there
is no additional reading on
this Sabbath, because
without this expression of
faith we cannot even begin to
open the scroll.
The pure faith of the Jewish
people just prior to the Ex-
odus was the belief that God
Tzav
Shabbat Hagadol:
Leviticus 6:1-8:36,
Malachai 3:4-24.
was with them, not only with
the nation, but with each and
every person. Each Jew felt
that the Almighty was his
personal God, which is the
quintessence of faith and
belief. When the people took
the sheep in the presence of
the Egyptians, when every
Jew felt that God would pro-
tect him — not just as part of
the nation, but as an in-
dividual, that is when God
decided that this people was
attuned to the frequency of
freedom and liberation.
How incisive is Jewish
tradition to designate this
Sabbath as Shabbat Hagadol,
the great Sabbath, the day
when Jews first experienced a
personal relationship with
their Father in Heaven. The
rest of the story is found in
the annals of Jewish
history. L
'1SYNAGOGUES 1'1
Adat Shalom
Plans Siyyum
Adat Shalom Synagogue
will mark the beginning of
the Passover holiday with a
Siyyum Ha B'khor, a special
service, study session and
breakfast 7:15 a.m. March 29
at the synagogue.
The Siyyum Ha B'khor
grew out of the Fast of the
Firstborn, a tradition origin-
ally for firstborn sons, to com-
memorate the sparing of the
Hebrew firstborn in the
tenth plague. The obligation
to fast is waived by atten-
dance at the siyyum.
There is no charge.