Top 10 Reasons To Get In
Gear With the St obat at

Vea Afeteof

gi

Its the Synagogue with an AFFORDABLE membership
plan for YOU!

Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz joins Cantor Max Shimansky
and Reverend Joseph Baras.

Youth programs.

Two daily minyans.

Sisterhood, Men's Club, Young at Heart, Club Chayim,
and Singles.

Shabbat Dinners and Sit Down Kiddushes

El Culture and Concerts.

Lunch and Learn, and Book Bites.

Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz BEHIND THE WHEEL revving up
your Sftbeed

Ved Altiteit

(centrally Located)
21100 West Twelve Mile Rd. Southfield • (810) 352-8670

INTERCO\S'REGATIO\AL FORUM

The Birmingham Temple • Congregation Beth Shalom • Temple Shir Shalom

Black/Jewish Relations: Where do We Go From Here?

• Dr. Charles Adams •
Minister of the Hartford Memorial Baptist Church

• Richard Lobenthal •
Michigan Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League

The evening will be moderated by
Rabbi David Nelson, Rabbi Dannel I. Schwartz and Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine

T H E D E TR O I T J E W I S H N E WS

Monday • October 24. 1994 • 8:00PM

40

The Birmingham Temple
28611 West Twelve Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
(810) 477-1410

Admission: No Charge • Reception to Follow

Next time you feed your face, think about your heart.

Go easy on your heart and start cutting back on foods that are high in saturated
fat and cholesterol. The change'II do you good.

V American Heart Association

RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

T

On site religious school.

—11

Our People's Base:
Loyal Followers

WERE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE

he middle chapters of the
book of Bereshit (Genesis)
chronicle of the lives and
times of the great patri-
archs of the Jewish people, Abra-
ham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham
was the father of our people,
the revolutionary, "the rock
whence we were hewn," as Isa-
iah later described him. Jacob
also was an active, dynamic fig-
ure who shaped the course of
events during his lifetime. Isaac,
on the other hand, was quite dif-
ferent.
In dramatic contrast to his fa-
ther and to his son, Isaac is al-
most a silent figure. He is
essentially a passive, withdrawn
person. In this week's sedrah, he
submitted to the akeda, to be-
come a sacrifice to God without a
protest; in next week's portion he
accepted the wife chosen for him
without any prior consultation;
and later when the Philistines
disputed his rights to a well, he
retreated without confrontation.
Isaac remained a thoroughly sub-
missive personality throughout
his life.
The fact, however, remains
that Isaac, despite his relatively
unimpressive biography, became
one of the three great patriarchs
whose characteristics and deeds
Jews have tried to emulate
throughout the generations. The
truth is that just as the world
needs movers and shakers, men
of thunder and lightning, it also
needs people who go about doing
their tasks quietly, consistently
and faithfully. The welfare and
stability of a people or a commu-
nity depend not only on their dy-
namic leaders but also on their
loyal followers. If Abraham lived
again in Jacob, then the credit is
due to Isaac. He maintained the
continuity not only physically, but
spiritually.
There is a verse in the Torah
which succinctly captures the
essence of Isaac's life's story. "And
it came to pass after the death of
Abraham, that God blessed Isaac,
his son" (Genesis 25:11). There is
a blessedness God bestows even
upon those who are not great
leaders, but who are willing to re-
main 'sons,' to inherit their fa-
ther's teachings and walk in their
footsteps.
Isaac was his father's son and
that was his distinctive great-
ness. He respected his inheri-
tance. He guarded the great
spiritual legacy which his father
had entrusted to his care and he
successfully transmitted it to his
descendants. Isaac was never a
trail-blazing leader, he was, how-

ever, a strong link and a loyal fol-
lower.
Here is an aspect of life which
is rarely appreciated. To do
no more than transmit the
wisdom and creativity of the past
to new hands is, in itself, an
important enterprise. If some-
times we wonder about the
significance of our lives, our role
as a link between the genera-
tions is enough to justify our ex-
istence. By serving as a link, we
enable the coming generation to
do as good a job as they possibly
can do. But we do more than pro-
vide a link between the past and
the future.
Our seemingly mundane
labors are the raw material of
which leaders and great men
make tomorrow. The success of a
community is dependent more on

Shabbat Vayera:
Genesis
18:1-22:24
II Kings 4:1-37.

its obscure members than on its
few notable leaders. A chain is as
proverbially strong as its weak-
est link. It is the small person, the
ordinary man or woman who
makes the world go round. The
work of Abraham would have not
borne fruit if there had not been
a loyal Isaac, to assist the cause.
And it is by that assistance that
Isaac is classed on full and equal
status with Abraham and Jacob;
for he, too, shared in their great
achievements.
If we are concerned about
"continuity" in the Jewish com-
munity today, we must not
assign the task to the accom-
plishments of the few. It is to the
large body of ordinary fathers and
mothers we have to look. Our
community must resemble a
pyramid; it can only stand firm
on a broad base. It requires the
loyalty of the masses, not the
charisma of the few, to guaran-
tee our Jewish future. If we do
not have the ability or the incli-
nation to seek prominence in the
life of our people, like an Abra-
ham or a Jacob, let us see to it
that we at least emulate the loy-
alty and devotion of an Isaac. The
Jewish world can often get along
without Abrahams and Jacobs;
it cannot survive and flourish
without Isaacs in every genera-
tion. Ill

