TORAH PORTION
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CALLING ALL
ACTORS, ACTRESSES,
DANCERS AND MUSICIANS
AGES 14-17
WE NEED YOU!
The Jewish Theatre Project: A Bicultural Experience
New American teens (from the Soviet Union) and American teenagers will
work together to create an original Jewish theatre production. The end result
will be a number of performances in the spring for the Jewish Community!
RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ
Special to The Jewish News
T
I* Perform throughout the Jewish Community
iuy Theatre games, improvisation, mime, music and dance
HI
Meet other teenagers
HI* Field Trips
Tuesdays, 4:15 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. (Dinner included)
October 8, 1991 - June 2, 1992
.
United Hebrew Schools • 21550 W. Twelve Mile Road • Southfield, MI
Space is limited • A fee will be charged
All teens must be interviewed prior to acceptance in the program.
For further information call:
Community Jewish High School: 354-1050 or J.E.F.F. office: 661-1000, Ext. 572
This course is offered through the Community Jewish High School
AN EXPERIENCE YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS!!
A cooperative venture between the
Jewish Experiences for Families and the Agency for Jewish Education
Funded in part by the DeRoy Foundation
EV ERIENCE-5 FOR
ALACMLAC.C.CMAGel.CLL.L.
Hcmdiccrpism.
It's Thinking
That People
With Disabilities
Are Different.
People with disa-
bilities are really like
the rest of us—diverse,
complex, each with
different strengths
and weaknesses,
likes and dislikes.
Sometimes they
may need more help
than you do. But they
always need a smile,
a hello, respect and
dignity. Just like you.
Treat every person
you meet like a
person. It's as simple
as that.
*) A Jewish Association for Residential Care
for persons with developmental disabilities
W
28366 Franklin Road Southfield, MI 48034 (313) 352-5272
40
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1991
Shabbat Shuvah:
Return Repent
he Sabbath between
Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur is always
known as Shabbat Shuvah,
deriving its name from this
week's Haftarah portion
which begins with Hosea's
word shuvah, return or re-
pent. Hosea was known as the
prophet of divine mercy and
lovingkindness because he
preached repentance as a con-
dition for obtaining Divine
pardon. "Return, 0 Israel,
under the Lord thy God, for
thou has stumbled in thine
inequities." (Hosea 14:2)
This is the season of repen-
tance. 'Ibn days between Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur
are devoted to considering
how one can do better by
recognizing sins committed
during the past year. The
Talmud warns that on Yom
Kippur, only sins against God
are forgiven. Sins against
man must be forgiven by one's
fellow man. The Talmud says,
"If thou has sinned against
thy brother, first go and
reconcile thyself to him, for
otherwise the Day of Atone-
ment cannot absolve thee."
(Yoma 8.9) A person will
never find forgiveness until
he has made amends with his
neighbor, repaid what he
owes him . and has begged
forgiveness of him.
Our past actions, if we re-
pent them, can modify our
lives in the future. It is impor-
tant to know that repentance
must mean not only to regret
the evils done in the past but
to repent with the true at-
titudes we have neglected.
Part of repentance is to revive
our own forgotten virtues.
Once a well-known and
wealthy man died and his
soul came up before the
heavenly judgement seat dur-
ing the 10 days of repentance.
Though he made a reason-
ably good living, he was
nevertheless self-centered,
stingy and never gave a cent
away. The heavenly court was
about to condemn his soul to
purgatory when his counsel
called the court's attention to
an incident of service that he
had once displayed years ago.
He once helped a poor man
pull his wagon bogged down
in the mud. When they put
the poor man and a wagon on
the scales of justice, they
found it still did not outweigh
Dr. Hertz is rabbi emeritus of
Temple Beth El in
Birmingham.
the rich man's miserliness.
Then his counsel pleaded,
"But the wagon at that time
was covered with mud. The
one you are weighing is
clean." So they brought some
mud and placed it on the
scale and lo and behold, it tip-
ped the scales by an ounce.
The rich man was saved from
purgatory by a little mud ser-
vice. The moral was clear. The
highest expression of a
spiritual philosophy of life is
compassion for your fellow
man.
Thus, coming to the syna-
gogue for services on Shabbat
Shuvah, you hear this week's
sedra read from the Torah
Shabbat Vayelech
Deuteronomy
31:1-30
Haftarah Hosea
14:2-10
about how Moses prepared for
death. Moses was truly a man
of God working for his people;
his life was devoted to them.
Now that his years had come
to 120 and his physical
strength was ebbing, he knew
his time to die had come. But
he was anxious for the
spiritual welfare and the
future of the people of Israel.
In delivering his final ad-
dress, he said to Joshua, his
successor, Hazak Ve-ematz,
"Be strong and resolute and
be of good courage." The
Torah says, "Moses wrote
down this teaching and gave
it to the priests, sons of Levi,
who carried the Ark of the
Lord's covenant and to all the
elders of Israel." (31:9)
He had taught with love
and devotion. Though he
knew he could not enter the
Promised Land of Israel, he
bid his successor to have
courage, to be strong because
God would be with him
throughout his struggles. It
was the example of the older
advising the younger, the ex-
perienced advising the novice.
The Jewish people never
raised monuments to their
dead heroes. There are no
statues to Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Moses or Aaron
because they need no statues.
Jews remembered their
heroes in their hearts because
of their heroes' lifeworks.
What Moses has said exists
and thus Moses exists
because the people of Israel
believed that Moses was a
man of God who loved his peo-
ple. Of course, no one can ob-
tain the heights of Moses, but
everyone can try to follow the