TORAH PORTION
ABICANIIIDEL CM OF COMMERCE OF MICHIGAN
ANNUAL ISRAEL TRADE
AWARD DINNER
Wednesday, June 10, 1992
HYATT REGENCY HOTEL, DEARBORN
6:00 PM - Cocktail Reception.
7:00 PM - Dinner
Keynote Speaker:
GM JAMES J. BLANCHARD
and
SHLOMO HAREL
Head of the Israel Economic
Mission to North America
* * * * * * * * *
1992 ISRAEL TRADE AWARD RECIPIENTS
DOUGLAS A SCHUBOT
President
Jules R. Schubot Jewellers
JOEL H. SHAPIRO IRWIN L ELSON
President
Executive V,P.
J. & L. Industrial Supply Co.
* * * * * * * * *
DINNER CO-CHAIRMEN
MARK KAHN GEORGE HERRERA
For reservations and further information, contact:
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The Religious Life
Follows Moral Law
RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ
Special to The Jewish News
T
he portion for this
week raises basic ques-
tions about a problem
that has troubled mankind
since the dawn of history.
Does it pay to be good? Is
there a reward for being good?
Does the moral law punish
the wicked for wrong-doing?
Two alternatives are offered
in this sedra. If the ancient
Israelites in the desert follow
the statutes laid down by
Moses and heed carefully the
Ten Commandments, if they
guard well the religious way
of life and faithfuly observe
all that it implies, if, in other
words, they are good and do
good, then they will be amp-
ly rewarded by rains in their
season, by fruitful land, and
peace for all the inhabitants.
But if they do not harken un-
to the Divine, if they reject
the spiritual interpretation of
life, if they break the moral
law of God and ignore the im-
plications of the religious way
of life, then a long list of dire
consequences and dreadful
devastation will befall them.
Those who do not follow the
moral law will meet their just
doom.
Leviticus 26 is a warning
and admonition in which
man's natural fears are ex-
ploited in graphic detail.
Man's hope for reward for do-
ing good is implemented with
religious sanction. The
reverse is also true. The worst
kinds of destruction and
devastation, the horrors and
retribution for disregarding
the covenant with God are
detailed, one worse than the
next.
There is a strong sense of
wisdom behind this chapter.
How many times in every-
one's life have we been troubl-
ed by the problem of whether
is pays to be good, to be decent
and honorable in one's rela-
tion with his fellow man?
Events of the past genera-
tion have sorely tried our
faith about decency and
goodness. We who witnessed
the successful triumphs that
Hitler made over self-
righteous democracies
wondered whether there
would ever be a final retribu-
tion. We lived to see that
justice was meted out to
Hitler. The terrible sins of
Nazism, with the support of
many of the German people,
brought ruin and destruction
Dr. Hertz is rabbi emeritus of
Temple Beth El.
upon millions. Ultimately,
their dreadful wrong-doing
was severely punished, but as
a consequence, millions of in-
nocent people had to suffer
and die, including 6 million in
the Holocaust.
The tragedy aroused world
Jewry to a new sense of duty
to its covenant and awakened
mankind to the awareness of
the evil of which modern man
is capable. The establishment
of the State of Israel and the
awakening of a new sense of
maturity on the part of world
Jewry, especially in the
United States, brought a
greater sensitivity to human
rights and outlawing of mass
extermination of people
because of their religion and
race. This was small consola-
Shabbat
Bechukotai:
Leviticus
26:3-27:34
Jeremiah
16:19-17:14.
tion for the 6 million Jews
who perished, or to their
bereaved families.
The question of why God
permitted the slaughter of
the 6 million can only be
answered by the author of
Job: "The affliction of the in-
nocent is something beyond
our understanding, but not
beyond our trust in God."
Our Torah tells us that
what evil once let loose rare-
ly stops with only the guilty.
Sin and wickedness, like
disease, are highly infectious
and can bring pain to the in-
nocent as well as to the guilty.
Our sedra this week tells us
what to do for the sake of
goodness and what not to do
for the sake of sin. We must
dedicate our lives to the prac-
tice of righteousness. We
must work for the well-being
of our fellow man. We must
help bring the wicked to
speedy justice. We must do all
we can to safeguard people
against avoidable calamities.
We may yet live to see a time
when wars and disease are
conquered. The dramatic ex-
ample of Dr. Jonas Salk and
Dr. Albert Sabin, who
discovered how to protect peo-
ple from polio, will perhaps
give us reason to believe that
we can prevent other forms of
suffering like cancer and
AIDS.
Scripture consistently held
fast to the principle that evil-
doing would be punished and
E)