TORAH PORTION

Unclear Definition
Of Heifer And Life

RABBI IRWIN GRONER

Special to The Jewish News

T

featuring
international dance groups, ethnic food and wine

Sunday, April 5, 1992 from 4 to 7:30 p.m.
(food served from 4 to 6 p.m.)
Southfield Civic Center Pavilion
26000 Evergreen Road (at 10-1/2 Mile Road)

$13.50 per person in advance • S15.00 per person at the door

Sponsored by the City of Southfield and
The International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit
Proceeds benefit the International Institute's ethnic enrichment programs

For ticket information, call
Southfield Community Relations Dept.
354-4854

In any great recipe, there's always one special ingredient that makes the dish memorable.

At the Jewish Home for Aged, that

special ingredient is our Jewish

tradition. It's what sets Friday
evenings aglow with the warmth of
Shabbat candles, softly spoken
blessings, fresh baked challah, and
steaming bowls of kosher chicken
soup shared among old friends.

In addition, our nursing homes
have on-site clinics, medical and
rehabilitative services, social
workers assigned to residents and
families, and care designed for
the individual.

Jewish tradition sets us apart;
turns our house into a Home, and
our residents into caring friends.

Occupancy Available
Contact Jerri Litt, MSW
532-7112

46

FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1992

Resident, Sarah King, 94 years old

his Sabbath is desig-
nated as Shabbat
Parah. Its name
derives from the parah
edumah, the red cow whose
ashes were used in ancient
Israel to cleanse the ritually
impure of their defilement.
Since only those who were
free of impurity were permit-
ted to partake of the pascal
lamb, on the Sabbath pre-
ceding Passover we recall the
means by which the impure
were to be restored to a state
of ritual cleanliness.
The procedure described
was baffling and mysterious.
Ashes of the cow were mixed
with water and sprinkled
upon those who were unclean
and they became purified,
while those who were engag-
ed in the preparation of those
ashes became unclean. Thus,
the ashes rendered the pure
impure, and the impure
became pure.
For us, living in an entire-
ly different world and time,
the whole ritual seems inex-
plicable. Yet I believe we
would be mistaken to dismiss
it as a practice too esoteric for
the modern Jew.
For Judaism speaks to us in
many ways and not through
words alone. Even as it does
with the most fundamental
issues of the human condi-
tion, Judaism finds the
language people employ often
inadequate. It has recourse,
therefore, to symbol and
ritual to dramatize that
which cannot be fully
articulated.
Religion is concerned with
experiences that are beyond
reason, and therefore, finds
itself sometimes limited by
normal vocabulary. For words
are often straightjackets into
which we force our thoughts
and limit the range of our ex-
periential awareness.
Truth, we are told by this
ancient ceremony, cannot be
compressed into a simple
definition. It has manifold
aspects. Reality is too com-
plex to be neatly summarized
in a single statement. It has
many contradictory elements,
for life unites within itself
opposites.
Truth may be found in a
paradox. The dictionary
declares that a paradox is a
statement seemingly con-
tradictory, which may yet be

JEWISH HOME FOR AGED

Nursing Facilities: Borman Hall and Prentis Manor
Assisted Living: Fleischman Residence/Blumberg Plaza

Irwin Groner is senior rabbi

at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek.

true in fact. A contradiction is
fatal in logic, but in life, op-
posites may both be true
when reconciled on a higher
unity or seen from a larger
perspective.
The talmudic sages were
sensitive to this insight. They
said, "Kamah panim latorah,"
the Torah has many aspects,
may be approached from
many viewpoints and seen
through different eyes.
In a famous controversy in
the Talmud, involving a clash
of views between the schools
of Hillel and Shamai, a
Heavenly voice ended the
argument by proclaiming
"Elu va'elu .. ." both schools
express the authentic truths
of the Almighty.
The Talmild tells a story
about Rabbi Joshua ben

Shemini:
Shabbat Parah
Leviticus 9:1-11:47,
Numbers 19:1-22.
Exekiel 36:16-38.

Hananiah. On one of his
journeys, he arrived at a
crossroad and was baffled. He
asked a lad who chanced to be
there which road should he
follow to reach the city. The
boy pointed to one and said,
"This road is long, but short,"
and to the other, he said,
"This road is short, but long."

The rabbi started out upon
the short, but long road. After
walking for some time, he
found his progress blocked by
gardens and orchards
through which he could not
pass. He retraced his steps
and found the boy still stan-
ding at the crossroad. "Did
you not tell me that this was
a short road?" the rabbi
asked. "Yes, but did I not also
tell you that it was the long
way?"
The other road led the rab-
bi into the city. It was the
longer way, yet the shorter
road in the long run.
Life is not simply a matter
of "either or," "choose one or
the other," but "this and
that," "the one and the other."
In Jewish life, this truth can
be applied with great benefit.
There are Jews who are in
search of a definition. "What
are we?" they continually
ask. "A religion, a nation, a
community, an ethnic group."
They want an easy answer, a
clear-cut definition, a precise
description.
Jewish group character is
too complex for so facile a