HOLIDAYS
Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit
presents
SUMMER
SUNDOWNERS
In the Discovery Room
A Chance for Parents & Preschoolers
to Have A Night on the Town
Come spend time with your Preschooler
Tuesday Evenings 6:30.7:30 p.m.
July 23, July 30 & August 6
The evening will include crafts,
stories, fun and games, along with
time to explore the Discovery Room.
You can share these activities with
your children and have a chance
to chat with other adults as well.
DisGovgry
Room,
A Jewish Experience
Yes! Sign us up for Summer Sundowners Club!
One Session — $5.00 per family
August 6
July 30
❑ July 23
❑ All three sessions — $12.00 per family
❑
❑
Join us for Children's Fairytale Theatre
❑ July 23 — Snow White and Seven Dwarfs
❑ August 6 — Jack and the Beanstalk
Fee: $3.50 each
Dinner option: 6.6:30 p.m. $3 per adult $1.50 per child
August 6
❑ July 30
❑ July 23
❑
Payable to J.C.C.
Total Enclosed
Family Name
Mother's Name
Father's Name
Age
Child
Age
Child
Address
Zip
City
Phone
Return this slip with check payable to: .+ 0.1GIZEMR
Jewish Community Center
Child Development Center
6600 W. Maple,
W. Bloomfield, MI 48322
'Ping 1,0.10 FansIlles Gi °4
Cr..
F...., 5.0.r
30 - 75% OFF*
on
All Summer Sportswear
& Short-Sleeved Dress Shirts
• X
Men's furnishings and accessories
19011 West Ten Mile Road
Southfield, Michigan 48075
(Between Southfield & Evergreen)
(313) 352-1080
*OFF RETAIL PRICE
EXPIRES JULY 31, 1991
Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Thursday 9:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Everything always 20% - 35% off retail
PARKING AND ENTRANCE IN REAR
LOOK FOR OUR 10 YEAR
ANNIVERSARY SPECIALS THIS FALL!
40
FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1991
Tisha B'Av Recalls
Temple's Destruction
A tale for the holiday running from
sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday.
OZZIE NOGG
Special to The Jewish. News
O
nce, long ago, the Ark
with the Ten Com-
mandments rested at
Shiloh. King David brought
the Ark to Jerusalem, his
city, where he longed to
build a proper house for it.
But God did not approve.
"You are a man of bloodshed
and war," God said to David.
"You shall not build a house
for my name." So it was that
David's son, King Solomon,
came to build the House of
the Lord.
Tens of thousands of men
worked for many years to
build the Temple. It was
built from blocks of the
choicest stone, and glowed
with copper, silver, brass
and gold.
In the center of the Temple
— its heart — was a small,
plain room. This was the
sacred Holy of Holies in
which the Priests placed the
Ark with the Ten Com-
mandments.
The elders, the Princes of
the Tribes and all the people
assembled for the Temple's
dedication. Solomon praised
God and asked Him to be
merciful to the people Israel
and to hear their prayers
and forgive their sins. God
accepted the Temple but
warned, "if you turn away
from Me, you and the Tem-
ple will be cast out of My
sight." So the people
brought offerings and
celebrated their festivals at
the Temple.
Solomon died and his
kingdom was divided. Am-
bitious kings murdered their
rivals. Priests neglected
their duties and the people
turned to the adulterous
ways of Baal. The Prophets
warned that punishment
would come from God, but
the people did not listen.
Then Nebuchadnezzar,
King of Babylonia,
thundered into Jerusalem.
He took everything he could
carry from the Temple and,
on the 9th of Av, his soldiers
burned the Temple to the
ground and the tablets with
the Ten Commandments
disappeared. The people
understood that because of
Ozzie Nogg is a writer in
Omaha, Neb.
their ways, the First Temple
was destroyed.
The Jews were carried off
by the Babylonians into ex-
ile. Eventually, Babylonia
fell to Cyrus, King of Persia,
who was called The
Anointed Shepherd of the
God of Israel. He freed the
people, who returned to
Jerusalem to rebuild the
Temple.
The Temple they built was
small and humble, and in it
the people heard Ezra read
the Torah. They vowed, once
From this place in
our hearts we can
follow God's
commandments
and do what He has
asked.
again, to follow God's Law,
and brought offerings and
celebrated their festivals at
the Temple.
Years passed. Antiochus
and his troops came and
desecrated the Temple but
the brave Maccabees cleans-
ed the holy place and
rededicated it to the One
God.
Then, in time, Herod
became King of Judea. To
win the favor of the people,
he made the Temple larger
and even more significant
than Solomon's with mas-
sive marble pillars and
many courtyards. In the
center of the Temple was the
Holy of Holies but now it
was an empty room. The
people brought offerings to
the altar and celebrated
their festivals there.
Presently, the Romans
ruled the land and the Jews
rose in revolt. They fought
the enemy without but there
was much dissension and
disunity within. Factions
feuded. Zealots battled
moderates. The sages saw
the discord and intolerance
and warned that punish-
ment would come from God.
Weakened by internal
strife, the people could resist
no longer. The armies of
Titus charged into
Jerusalem. On the 9th of Av
they burned the Temple to
the ground. The Jews
understood that because of
their hatred toward one an-
other, the Second Temple
was destroyed.
The people wept and
mourned. They sat on the
ground wailing lamenta-
tions in remembrance of the
Temple and of Jerusalem
plowed under like a field.
And they asked the rabbis,
"What shall we do, now that
the Temple is no more?
Where shall we bring our
offerings to God?" And
Rabbi Yochanan the son of
Zakkai replied, "Now you
must bring God acts of lov-
ing kindness, for He desires
mercy and not sacrifice."
Yes, the house built for
God is gone.
But be comforted, for the
Lord of Israel lives every-
where and His spirit rests in
everyone. Each of us, in
truth, is a living Temple. In
our centers, in our very
hearts, is a sacred place. And
that place is not empty for
God's words are in it.
From this place in our
hearts we can follow God's
commandments and do what
He has asked. We can re-
member Him. We can walk
in His ways. We can bring
our offerings of love and
kindness and justice to Him
and to everything that lives
on earth.
❑
""'""mmi NEWS im•""
Oil Find
Played Down
Tel Aviv (JTA) — Oil pro-
spectors are playing down
the importance of last
week's oil strike at a drilling
site in the Heletz oil field,
near Ashdod.
Oil gushed at 5,118 feet
below ground. But the Nafta
Oil Prospecting Co., which
operates the field, is reacting
cautiously.
According to its director
general, Yossi Levy, the
drilling is continuing.
If oil is found at three or
four different strata targeted
by the company to a depth of
5,445 feet, the new well,
known as Kochav 32, could
yield a total of 350,000
barrels, Mr. Levy said.
He stressed that Kochav
32 is not a new oil source but
a further exploration within
the wider Heletz field, which
consists of several small,
isolated subterranean pools.
Oil was first found there in
1955. The field has since
yielded 17 million barrels.