TORAH PORTION
JERUSALEM DAY CELEBRATION
(YOM YERUSHALAYIM)
A Celebration of 24 years of a Reunified Jerusalem
Thursday, May 9, 1991
UNITED HEBREW SCHOOLS
7:00 p.m.
21550 W. 12 Mile, Southfield
cooperation with the Jewish Educator's Council will sponsor an art exhibition
by students. The theme will be the celebration of Jerusalem.
STUDENTS MAY SUBMIT THEIR ENTRIES IN PROSE, PAINT. OR ANY OTHER ART FORM.
Deadline to enter: Thursday, May 2, 1991 — Submit entries to:
Detroit Zionist Federation
21550 W. 12 Mile Rd., Southfield, MI 48076
For Information and Tickets call Belle Schwartz' 967-3891
Youth/Seniors: $1.00
Adults: $4.00
— Tickets may also be purchased at the door —
Sponsored By The Detroit Zionist Federation
Affiliated Organizations: American Mizrachi Women • Americans for Progressive Israel • Association
of Reform Zionists of America • Jabotinsky Society of Herut USA • Labor Zionist Alliance • Metropolitan
Detroit Chapter of Hadassah • Na'Amat USA • Religious Zionists of America • Zionist Organization
of America, Detroit District • B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation, Wayne State University • Michigan Students
for Israel • Congregation Beth Achim • Congregation Beth Shalom • Congregation B'nai David • Con-
gregation B'nai Moshe • Temple Israel • Parents of North American Israelis • Jewish National Fund
• Americans for Safe Israel
WE HAVE WHAT THE
THE COMPETITION
DOESN'T
COME
JOIN
US!
Take advantage of our SPECIAL YOUNG ADULT'' offer and experience the finest
Health Club in the area. One full year
of Health Club Membership for
ONLY $500
• Indoor/Outdoor Tracks
• Indoor/Outdoor Tennis
• Indoor/Outdoor Pools
• Versaclimber
• Squash
•" Stairmaster
• Universal Equipment
• Whirlpool/Steam/Sauna
A NEW GENERATION OF FUN IS HERE
For further information contact the Membership Depai Lnent
•t Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
6600 West Maple Road
West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322
=11
661-1000, ext. 265 or 266
* 18-25 with valid drivers license • * Certain restrictions may apply
54
FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1991
RABBI RICHARD HERTZ
Special to The Jewish News
W
SPECIAL STUDENT ART EXHIBIT — The Detroit Zionist Federation, in
• Nautilus
• Hi-Tech Treadmills •
• Racquetball
Aerobics
Striving For Holiness,
The Unattainable Goal
hen you begin to
read this week's
sedra you think you
are reading the Ten Com-
mandments, for Chapter 19
standing midway in the Torah
is rightly regarded by the rab-
bis as the kernel of the Torah.
Indeed, Leviticus 19 is the
counterpart of the Decalogue,
for the Ten Commandments
are in essence repeated here.
Six items prominently forbid-
den are identified in this
chapter: humiliation of par-
ents, cheating strangers, de-
spising Sabbath and sacred
offerings, depravity, de-
frauding one's own kinsman,
and. baseness.
In addition, many other
subjects are enumerated in a
positive way: consideration
for the needy, prompt pay-
ment of wages, reasonable
hours, honorable dealings,
love of one's neighbor, sym-
pathetic understanding of the
alien, equal justice to rich
and poor, fair measures and
weights — a whole host of
subjects intimately connected
to everyday life.
A dramatic quality makes
each of those commandments
center around "Do not . . ." or
"You shall . . ." Then the com-
mandments conclude with
the formula, "I am the Lord"
or "I am the Lord your God?'
Thus Leviticus 19, the
holiness chapter, proceeds to
outline specifically and by ex-
ample what it means to live
a life of holiness. Here is a
magnificent summation of
ethical obligations to one's
family, one's fellow man, to
• oneself.
Keeping one's soul free of
the cancers of the spirit
brought on by vengeance and'
hatred, or by bearing a
grudge, or by yearning for
revenge, or by embittering
one's heart and crippling
one's life — these are all
elements of personal Judaism
that are the Torah's prescrip-
tion for holiness.
"You must be holy" pro-
vides the rationale for the
commandments. Israel must
be holy because God is holy.
To have a close relationship
with God, the people must
emulate God. In theological
language, this doctrine is
known as Imitatio Dei, "the
Rabbi Hertz is rabbi emeritus
of Temple Beth El and
distinguished professor of
Jewish studies at the
University of Detroit.
imitation of God." The way to
holiness in personal life is to
emulate God's attributes.
God is the Jewish ideal of
perfection. The ways of God
are the highest patterns of
living, perhaps unattainable
for men and women because
human beings can never at-
tain the sublime virtues of
God. Some may ask cynically,
"What's the use of striving to
achieve the perfection of God
when a human being can
never achieve that perfection?
Isn't that a contradiction in
terms?" Judaism has an
answer.
Sometimes we say that we
must hitch our wagon. to the
stars. We know, of course, that
it's impossible to reach the
stars yet we try to keep our
ideals as high as heaven. The
Achrai Mot —
Kedoshim:
Leviticus
16:1-20:27.
Amos 9:7-15.
very fact that our ideals are
hitched to the stars is incen-
tive to climb higher and
higher.
Judaism provides a moti-
vating idealism for life. It pro-
vides standards. "You shall be
holy for I, the Lord thy God,
am holy."
In Judaism, holiness is a
word for the highest
spirituality, for the loftiest
standards of moral perfection.
The sanctification of daily
life thus becomes the essence
of holiness. In the Jewish
view, the daily task is done
not merely for the sake of a
material reward, but because
the performance of the or-
dinary can bring a person
closer to God.
Every daily task, every dai-
ly mitzvah, becomes a means
of sanctifying God by becom-
ing more God-like. That is
what is meant by the great
phrase in traditional Judaism
— kidush hashem — "sanc-
tification of God's name?' By
performing the daily task
with a full consciousness of
the religious motivation pro-
mpting the good deed, we tru-
ly give evidence of revering
God.
The highlight of the
holiness code comes in verse
18: "Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself?' perhaps
the most comprehensive rule
of conduct is those three sim-
ple Hebrew words. Here the
essence of religion is ap-
plicable in every human
situation. 1=1