TORAH PORTION I
1
1
THE METROPOLITAN DETROIT FEDERATION
OF REFORM SYNAGOGUES
INVITES YOU TO WORSHIP
AT THE ANNUAL
RABBI IRWIN GRONER
Special to The Jewish News
ISAAC MAYER WISE SABBATH SERVICE .
on
FRIDAY, APRIL 24th at 8:00 p.m.
at
TEMPLE ISRAEL
5725 Walnut Lake Road
West Bloomfield
661-5700
All the Reform Rabbis in our community will participate in
this special service honoring the founder and master builder
of Reform Judaism in North America.
A free flowing discussion of contemporary issues will be
moderated by WJR Radio personality Warren Pierce.
Do not miss this spiritually moving and intellectually
stimulating service.
(ENNIN
Filimmami
Group Apartments
for the Elderly
A Jewish Family Service Program
Since 1979
• Luxurious apartments, with private bedrooms, for shared living.
• Supportive care provided by Geriatric Care Workers and Social
Workers.
If someone you know desires a family-like setting,
please call Zena Baum or Jan Bayer at 559-1500.
p\rq JEWISH
FAMILY
SERVICE
46
At Festive Times
Remember Departed
FRIDAY. APRIL 24, 1992
Limited space is currently available.
Limited subsidies available.
Endowed by the Coville-Triest Family Foundations.
F
our times each year, on
Yom Kippur and on the
last day of the
pilgrimage festivals of
Passover, Shavuot and Suk-
kot, we observe the Yizkor
memorial service. Why does
Judaism require these
periodic experiences of
memory, particularly in a
festival season?
My first response is that
deep feelings compel frequent
expression. A statement of
love can never be superfluous.
Yizkor should be understood
as an expression of our sense
of closeness to the family,
even to those who have
departed. We cannot let a
festive occasion pass without
remembering those beloved
ones who used to celebrate
the holidays at our side.
Yizkor is a statement of en-
during loyalty and love. It
demonstrates that we have
not forgotten those who have
ended their earthly
pilgrimage.
The Pslamist once exclaim-
ed: Nish-kachti ke-met mi-lev
— "I am forgotten like a dead
man, out of mind and out of
heart" (Psalms 31:13). The
Psalmist informs that if a
dear one dies and is interred,
and if thereafter the sur-
vivors forget their departed,
then such a deceased person
is condemned to die a second
time.
A still deeper meaning of
the ritual is indicated by the
opening words of the Yizkor
prayer itself: Yizkor Elohim
— "Remember, 0 Lord." With
these words, we ask God to
take into His care the souls of
our departed and to bind
them in the "Bundle of Life,"
a reaffirmation of our belief
in the eternal life of the soul.
If you have been part of a
congregation observing
Yizkor, you must have notic-
ed a special mood of warm
sentimentality and mutual
closeness that prevails on this
occasion. People who say
Yizkor are moved to a deeper
level of love. They are united
by a common spiritual bond,
the realization of the uncer-
tainty and brevity of human
existence and by faith in God,
the Keeper of our eternal
souls.
Yizkor is associated with
the end of our festival seasons
perhaps because at festivals
Irwin Groner is senior rabbi
at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek.
we miss especially those fami-
ly members who used to
celebrate with us. Also, dur-
ing festival seasons, our sense
of God's presence is stronger
than at other times. Festivals
remind us of the acts of the
Almighty in the history of our
people and in the on-going
saga of human redemption.
On these occasions, we reaf-
firm our belief in the in-
separable connection between
heaven and earth.
We must never separate the
realm of God from the world
of man. The transcendent
realm of God may be
unimaginable but it is not out
of touch with the world of our
own limited human ex-
Shabbat Passover:
Deuteronomy
15:19-16:17
Numbers 28:19-25
Isaiah 10:32-12:6.
perience. In this mood, in-
spired by our festivals, it is
natural to build a bridge of
prayer over which we reach
out to our departed. We do so
in the belief that they are
beneficially affected by our
memories, even as we, in
remembering them receive
spiritual benefits.
Yizkor is not a morbid ex-
perience. It inspires serenity
and helps us achieve a com-
forting sense of being at peace
with God.
As we remember our
departed, we also remember
the fundamental truth that
none of us is here on earth for-
ever. Mature people should
periodically re-assess -their
values and priorities against
this perspective of human
mortality.
It is good and instructive to
be able to combine this
realistic assessment • of the
human condition with the
faith that death is not the ex-
tinction of life, but its
transformation into another
realm of being under the ever-
lasting care of the
Almighty. ❑
SYNAGOGUES
lim•
Rabbi Wine
Gives Review
Rabbi Wine will present the
third of three talks on the
theme The Japanese Chal-
lenge 8:30 p.m. April 27 at
the temple.
He will review The End of
History and The Last Man, by
Francis Fukuyama.
A discussion will follow;
there is a charge.