A Personal Voyage Of Jewish Discovery Continued from Page L-1 services imagining the many my family. I go to synagogue on generations who had read those Shabbat almost every week and same prayers before me. I knew littl e make a strong effort to avoid but felt much. shopping, phone calls, laundry, and I was also motivated to study Tora h other weekday concerns on Shabbat. because I had had a hunch, for all When we moved to Michigan in 1988, those years, that there was a major f it I announced to my family that I was between the values espoused by ou r going to keep a kosher kitchen, and I tradition and my own heartfelt am doing my best to uphold that concerns. With the help of a brilliant, goal. I am hoping this New Year to challenging teacher, I found myself i n expand my commitment by no longer awe of the collective wisdom and "eating out"; i.e. avoiding non-kosher insights of 2,000 years of Jews food outside the home. It was only wrestling with the same issues and through study that I came to dilemmas of our own time: the understand kashrut as a system of struggle to maintain hope and build limits, discipline, and powerful daily caring human relationships, to stand reminders and reinforcers of Jewish up against injustice and abuse of identity. power, to defend the weak and Today, many Jewish adults are defenseless ones in this world. giving serious consideration to the When I study Torah, I am comforted possibility of engaging in Torah study. by the presence of sages and But I caution people to avoid the trap teachers who function for me as a of doing this only "for the sake of the kind of personal support group children." Over and over I've heard transcending time and space. stories of young Jewish adults who One of the first lessons I learned are cynical and dismissive about through Torah study was never to Jewish observance because the feel embarrassed by what I didn't minute they went away to college know and never to hesitate to ask a their parents stopped putting up a question. When our daughter was sukkah, celebrating Shabbat, lighting four, our rabbi asked us to join with Chanukah candles, etc. These other families to launch a Boston Jewish rituals are not enjoined on us area Reform Jewish Day School. simply to impress young children. When I was told the steering They are lifelong commitments; that committee had chosen "The Rashi is the essence of the enterprise. School" as the name for our new Should one engage in Jewish study venture, I asked, "Who is Rashi?" for the sake of his or her children? And I learned. Yes, especially if that happens to be Jewish study also has had a major the "hook" for you. But in the end, we positive impact on my daily life and in must also study Torah for our own sake and our own spiritual fulfillment, and for the ultimate purpose of learning, and then doing, what God wants of us. Ideally, we should be communicating to the next generation — whether our children or grandchildren, nieces, nephews, students, friends, or neighbors — that the values which Judaism was created to uphold in this world cannot be sustained without a cadre of committed, knowledgeable Jews to carry out this sacred task. The Jewish tradition contains many specific prescriptions for the effective transmission of Jewish knowledge and commitment. "Do as I say, not as I do" is not among them! We must face this fact: most American Jews are Jewishly illiterate. We don't even know what we don't know — a truly dangerous situation! Fortunately, the redemptive and regenerative power of God and Torah is everpresent, if we have the will and the courage to draw on it. To paraphrase one of Rabbi Tarfon's great comments from Pirkei Avot, the Master is impatient, the workers are slacking off on the job, and time flies, but the reward is great . . . so let's get on with it! Nancy Kaplan is the Director of the Midrasha Center for Adult Jewish Learning (a division of the Agency for Jewish Education). To Make Sure That Jewish Schooling Works Continue Your Own Jewish Education The single most powerful way of insuring that your children take their Jewish education seriously is to continue your own Jewish learning. A story: A man once came to the Kotsker Rebbe and complained that his son did not want to learn Torah. (Even though it wasn't Hebrew School he was talking about — we know those Sunday morning fights.) He asked the Rebbe: "What should I do?" The Kotsker Rebbe told him: "If you force your child to study Torah, he will study Torah as long as you make him to do so. And, in fact, he will grow up and make his child study Torah in his time. However, if you devote yourself to Torah study, soon you will find your child by your side, asking to study with you." Get it? Do as I do! From: "40 Things You Can Do To Save The Jewish People," by Joel Lurie Grishaver. A Bridge For Daughters Of Jacob Continued from Page L-1 have enrolled in an additional Hebrew course. The conversation during classroom breaks reveals that many are increasing their synagogue involvement, their volunteer efforts in the Jewish community. The very physical building of Adat Shalom has become user-friendly for them. I see them in the library; I come upon them in the office checking up on times for a u) Sisterhood program, a lunch-and- F- THE JEWISH NEWS F- 27676 Franklin Road Southfield, Michigan 48034 September 3, 1993 Associate Publisher. Arthur M. Horwitz LLJ w F- Adviser: Harlene W. Appelman learn session, a Family Shabbat Dinner. They stop me at the Gift Shop. "Rabbi, which of these seder plates should I buy for my home?" They are present at Shabbat Services sitting together proudly as a beautiful sorority exploring their new familiarity with the Siddur. Thery begin to re-evaluate their lives. For those who had not considered it before, kashrut in their homes becomes a project, thoroughly researched, questioned and applied. And, wonder of wonders, Jewish education for their children is raised to its deserved primary place of importance. The holidays are observed, the teen- agers begin to appear in our United Synagogue Youth groups, more youngsters are continuing to study after their Bar/Bat Mitzvah observance. Their husbands, too, are in greater evidence in the synagogue. For their husbands and children have witnessed their wives' and mothers' commitment. They hear them practicing their Torah portion, their haftorah chant. It is not just "Do what I tell you to do." It is "Do what I do." In our time, Shavout has grown in depth of meaning and beauty. In 1967, the Jewish People prayed together at the Kotel in Jerusalem, the first holiday when this was again possible. In our synagogue, that day of Torah is an occasion for true Halle!, true praise to the Holy One Blessed be He. With knowledge, fervency, and humility our women read from the Torah, from the Prophets, from The Book of Ruth — those declaring before the congregation that they understand and knowingly assume the mitzvot about which they have studied, and those from past classes who join with their sisters to reaffirm their role in judaism's progress. In approaching the New Year, in evaluating educational programs, in planninn curricula and calendar events, I am grateful for these students — these supports and inspiration that engender hope! When I travel in the Galil in Northern Israel, I usually pose a question to the group I am leading as we cross the Jordan River on our way to the Golan Heights. "The bridge over there," I say, "is called the Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob. Aside from Dinah, do we know of any other daughters?" The answer, of course, is that the reference is not biblical. A French nuns' order established a chapter in the region in the late Middle Ages and the bridge in named for them. But I see a new meaning for the words in our time — B'not Yaakov — The Daughters of Israel have built a bridge in our time in their devoted participation from our rich heritage to the promise of the future! Rabbi Spectre is spiritual leader of Adat Shalom Synagogue, Farmington Hills.