+.1.111.14P21.1041.44,
RELIGION
Judeo-Christian
Continued from preceding page
T 'ffid amily
Fun Day
Sunday, August 16, 1992
2:30-5:30 p.m.
Inglenook Park, Southfield
(12 Mile Road, between Evergreen and Lahser)
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
2:30 - 3:15
Puppet show
3:00 - 4:30
The Ron Coden show
4:30 - 5:30
Softball game:
The Jewish News vs.
Maccabi Softball Team
Pony rides, clowns and face painter will be on hand
throughout the afternoon. Bring a blanket or a chair.
Sponsored by THE NEIGHBORHOOD PROJECT
In cooperation with the City of Southfield and The Jewish News in celebration of its 50th anniversary
FUN DAY WILL BE CANCELED IF IT RAINS
Additional parking available at Congregation Beth Achim
For information: The Neighborhood Project, 967-1112.
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RICK WALD
489-5862
GET YOUR NEXT PAIR OF
NIBBLES
&
NUTS
We Create Impressions
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GIFT BASKETS & TRAYS FOR ALL
OCCASIONS OUR SPECIALTY
737-8088
33020 NORTHWESTERN
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Special Candy & Sugarfree Available
9d
rm.,
1.800-752-2133
FRIMV Al ini ITT 1tt - 1(1Q9
Local & Nationwide Delivery
SANSABELT
slacks at a sensible price.
Why pay more when we
offer them at discount?
We even include FREE
tailoring. Discount prices
start at:
S
of
free parking
behind our store
sizes 32-60
JOHN R MEN'S WEAR
543-4646
M-Th 9:30-6:30, Fri. & Sat. 9:30-8, Sun. 11-5
f veils & Job. R Take I-75 to 9 Mile
ment for all others. For all
others, the atonement is gain-
ed vicariously. As Luther ex-
pressed it, the believer
becomes velut paralyticum, as
one paralyzed, abandoning
the conceit of his own deeds,
utterly dependent on the self-
sacrifices of the innocent
lamb of God.
Circumcision is the initia-
tion into the covenant with
God and Abraham. The eight-
day old child carries no bag-
gage of sin with him into the
world. He is no alien flung in-
to the hands of demonic
powers. The Christian infant
prior to his baptism is a
pagan, the Jewish child is
Jewish even before or without
the rite of circumcision. The
Jewish child is born innocent,
body and soul, created and
sustained in God's image. He
has no need to be saved
because no Satan threatens
him, no eternal damnation
hovers over him. As a Jew he
will be raised in a tradition
that mandates him to save
lives, not souls.
For Christianity, man sins
because he is a sinner. For
Judaism, man sins when he
sins. Of course, he will sin —
not because he enters the
world condemned as a sinner,
but because he is a fallible
human being and "there is no
righteous human being who
has done good and does not
transgress." (Ecclesiastes) The
sin is his or hers, the choice
is his or hers, and the repara-
tion to be done is his or hers.
No one can sin for another,
cry or die for another, or ab-
solve another. No confessors,
intercessors, surrogates or
substitutes can stand in for
another's turning from sin.
No one can shower, bathe,
clean himself that the other
shall be clean. "Wash yourself
clean," Isaiah addresses the
penitent, "put away the evil
doings from before Mine eyes;
cease to do evil, learn to do
well; seek judgement, relieve
the oppressed, the fatherless,
plead for the widow." Commu-
nion with God is without rab-
binic or priestly mediation.
"Blessed are you Israel.
Before whom are you purified
and who purifies you? Your
Father who art in heaven."
(Yoma Talmud).
The divine-human connec-
tion in Judaism is
unmediated. Moreover,
whereas in Christianity the
relationship between self and
God is a vertical relationship,
the Jewish connection with
God is )rizontal. The
horizonta' human transac-
tions thaetall for reparation,
forgiveness and apology for
the injuries of others cannot
be skipped over by a vertical
leap beween the individual
and God in heaven, ignorin g`
the proper relationships with
God's children on earth. The
prophet in Ezekiel (33) makes
it clear what the truly peni-
tent is to do. "If the wicked
restore the pledge, give back
what he has robbed, walk irf
the statutes of life . . . he shall
surely live . . . None of the
sins he has committed shall
be remembered against him."
Baptism emphasizes the
paralysis of the human will
helpless without God combat-t
ting Satan. The covenant cir
cumcision focuses on the co• -:*
petence of the human beir r
to exercise control over hig
life. To the sulking Cain,
depressed over his act of
fratricide, the Torah counsels
"Sin crouches at the door, bq
you may rule over it."
Salvation is not for j'fihen
alone. In Judaism th and the
do not believe our wg.0 sign of
our way are not 1-
with divine anatl
binic literature
.
111.111=1111•11111=111 ■
Jews do not
to convert the-,
world to Judaism 1'
but convert the
world to
righteousness,
s
justice and peace.,a
if
earth are called to witne§_
that "whether they be gentile.
or Jew, man or woman, slave
or free man, the Divine
Presence rests on each one ac-
cording to his deeds." (Yalkut
Shimeoni, Tanya Debe Eli-
jah). The people of Ninevel - ,
(in the Book of Jonah) art_
spared because of their deec4.
not their conversion to
Judaism; because of their tur-
ning from evil ways, not their
acceptance of the Sabbath
and festivals. Jews do not
seek to convert the world,
Judaism but convert t rial
world to righteousp-ss,
justice and peace. *
Sam and Peggy must be
given to understand that cir-
cumcision is not baptism.
They are not knife or water
alternatives, but ritualized
dramas of values, affecting
their relationships to God,
world, neighbor and self. Bap-
tism depends upon belief in a
specific divine person who
walked the face of the earth.
In Judaism there are no such
incarnate divine being:
whether
clothed
patriarchs, priests or per
phets. There is no Jew3 t .-
beatification or canonizatii-:.
of saints, no apothesis of blor.i
and flesh heroes, no doctri): ,
of infallibility.