BUY A CASE OF FOOD TO
HELP FEED THE JEWISH
HUNGRY.

Tell Me Why

You Weren't Planning On
Skink For Lunch, Were You?

YAD EZRA

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR

feedi)rg me Jewish flui il gry

Use this coupon to help feed the Jewish hungry.
YAD EZRA will use your donations to purchase cases
of food and distribute them to our neighbors in need.

❑
❑
❑
❑

❑
❑
❑
❑

1 case chicken (54 lbs.)
1/2 case chicken (27 lbs)

1 case 27 oz. canned gefilte fish (12 per case)
1 case 18 oz. Quaker oatmeal (24 per case)
1 case 6.5 oz. tuna in water (48 per case)
1 case 15 oz. tomato sauce (48 per case)
1 case 18 oz. creamy peanut butter (12 per case)
1 case 16 oz. thin spaghetti (20 per case)
1 case 16 oz. rice (24 per case)

❑ 1 nutritious food package for family of four

$80.00
$40.00
$39.00
$37.00
$30.00
$25.50
$21.00
$18.00
$13.33

$50.00

YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS ELIGIBLE FOR A 50% MICHIGAN TAX CREDIT.

(subject to certain limitations)

Enclosed is my check in the amount of $
for
cases of food as a tax deductible contribution
to YAD EZRA to help feed the Jewish hungry.

Name:

Address .

City/State/Zip•

Area Code & Phone:

Make checks payable and mail to:
YAD EZRA
26641 Harding, Oak Park, MI 48237

Tributes and Memorials Available • For more information, call:

YAD EZRA • (810) 548-FOOD (548-3663)

44: Are there any kosher reptiles?

A:

hlooks like you're going to have to forgo
that gecko-olive casserole tonight.
...Among the foods the Torah
(Leviticus 11:4142) forbids is
"every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the
earth...Whatsoever goes upon the
belly and whatsoever goes upon all
fours, or whatsoever has many
feet among all creeping things
that creep upon the earth" —
namely, all reptiles.
In addition to the gecko,
lizards, skinks, crocodiles, monitors,
chameleons and tortoises are treife.

CZ: What does Judaism mean by labeling
Jews the "Chosen People"?

A.:

The phrase "chosen" refers to the special
relationship between God and the Jew-
ish people and the latter's unique responsibilities
because of this relationship.
In Deuteronomy 7:6, it reads, "For you are a
people consecrated to the Lord your God: of all the
peoples on earth the Lord your God chose you to
be His treasured people."
Just as one selects a particular individual for
a specific duty, so, too, in "choosing" the Jewish
people God assigned them certain tasks — name-
ly, fulfilling the mitzvot. Indeed, the rabbis said
the term "chosen" applied only so long as Jews ac-
cepted the Torah.
Anti-Semites typically interpret the phrase
to suggest Jews believe God loves them to the ex-
clusion of all others, or that Jews believe they are
superior to everyone else; and even some Jews

have rejected the phrase as superfluous or biased.
(The 1945 Reconstructionist prayer book reads,
"Modern-minded Jews can no longer believe...that
the Jews constitute a divinely chosen people.")
Yet there has never been any claim in serious
rabbinic writing to suggest that the term "chosen"
means that Jews are more valuable human be-
ings. The Midrash, for example, recounts God's
anger when the Jews began to celebrate as the
Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea. "How can you
be joyous," God demanded, "when my creatures
are dying?"
One rabbi compared the relationship between
God and the Jews to a man and his oldest son.
There is a special bond between the two, he said,
but it does not mean the father loves his other
children any less.

Time Is Running Out!
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Before The May 1st
50% Tax Increase!

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LOADED.

44: Why wasn't fire one
of the Ten Plagues?

From reader Emma D., 6, of Birmingham

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(810)
FARMINGTON HILLS
471-0800

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Fire was indeed one of the plagues,
though it is not mentioned individually
in the Haggadah. Instead, it's included with the
seventh plague, hail.
The Torah states in Exodus 9:23 that God
caused "thunder and hail and fire striking the
ground." Verse 24 adds, "And there was hail and
fire flashing."
Although the seventh plague is listed in the
Haggadah only as hail, it was, in fact, hail mixed
with fire.

Torah commentators have interpreted the He-
brew word esh in various ways. Rabbi Levis ben
Gershom, Ovadia ben Yaacov and Samson
Raphael Hirsch called the fire in Verse 23 light-
ning. Avraham Ibn Ezra said it was streaming
fire.
Different understandings also exist for the
"flashing fire" in Verse 24, which rabbis have
called everything from deadly fire to a meteorite
shower.

Send questions to "Tell Me Why" c I o The Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI 48034