limb Par 11011 4c$101 thilifI lfh , kt I : Top 10 Reasons To Get In 10 Gear With the Sidiree at _,_ 0 'elareestem Verl 74-deot. Limited Vision Denies Potential - et a Its the Synagogue with an AFFORDABLE membership plan for YOU! re Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz joins Cantor Max Shimansky and Reverend Joseph Baras. RABBI IRWIN GRONER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS CA On site religious school. CA Youth programs. • Two daily minyans. r e Sisterhood, Men's Club, Young at Heart, Club Chayim, and Singles. Shabbat Dinners and Sit Down Kiddushes • Culture and Concerts. CI Lunch and Learn, and Book Bites. ra Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz BEHIND THE WHEEL revving up --11 your Shit! &e (centrally Located) 21100 West Twelve Mile Rd. Southfield • (810) 352-8670 CONGREGATION B'NAI DAVID (ALIVE AND WELL AND GROWING IN WEST BLOOMFIELD) cordially invites you to attend our SHABBAT, PARSHAT TOLEDOT SERVICES on SATURDAY, NOV. 5, 1994 at the JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER/MAPLE-DRAKE/ROOM 239 • Guest Rabbi Martin Gordon will officiate and deliver the sermon • Cantor Usher Adler will chant the liturgy • All the favorite melodies and familiar davening • Traditional services in the Sefard Nusach. Services every Shabbat. • Cholent Kiddush will be served following services • The community is invited - children are most welcome Call (810) 557-8210 for further information. "OLD CITY MENORAH" C/3 LU C) LL, CC H- Specially priced $75.00 LU 56 TRADITION TRADITION! Call Alicia Nelson • (810) 557-0109 AA he Torah portion describes Isaac, the Patriarch, in his last days, about to bestow the blessing of the birth- right to his son. "And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau, his older son, and said to him `my son,' and he said unto him, `Here I am.' " Isaac is about to make a ter- rible mistake. He intends to give the blessing, the spiritual her- itage that has been handed down from his father, Abraham to Esau, an unworthy son. Esau was a hunter, a man of violence, who could not fulfill the moral demands of that way of life which Abraham had begun. It was Jacob, the younger twin, who could properly achieve this task. But Isaac was partial to Esau because Isaac did not rec- ognize the truth. Rabbi Elizer says, "Isaac did not 'see' means that he did not see with the 'Divine spirit' what would be the character of Esau in his later years, how he would become a marauder, a man of cruelty, a murderer." Isaac lacked not only sight but insight. He was deficient not only in vision, but also in un- derstanding. He was blind to the truth which he should have known, that Jacob was the prop- er recipient of the most precious gift that he, the father, could be- stow. Isaac's failing is not unusual or extraordinary. Our under- standing of people, relationships, and values is often distorted, confused or imperfect. We fail to recognize that which we should see, grasp, and understand. This defect is universal. In some degree, all of us are limit- ed in this capacity of vision. But we ought to recognize these lim- itations and attempt to overcome them. Unless we do, we shall do injury to ourselves and those whom we love, we shall deny ourselves the achievement of that potential which we could otherwise attain. One of the most profound doc- trines of the Wise Men of Greece was, "Know Thyself." But each of us treads a narrow line be- tween reality and delusion. A great discrepancy often exists between what we are and what we think we are. We view our- selves as fine, caring, loving, considerate people. But there are occasional moments when we discover that we have remark- able capacities to be unpleasant, rude, unloving and egotistical. Rebecca McCann put it this way, "I'm sure I have a noble mind, and honesty and tact; and no one's more surprised than I to see the way I act." Conversely, we often see oth- ers as they are not, and fail to see them as they are. We look upon others as they are not, and fail to see them as they are. We look upon others as individuals created to serve our needs and to provide for our comfort. Dorothy Parker was known for her caustic wit. She was once at a cocktail party at which someone praised another promi- nent woman by saying, "She is very kind to her inferiors." Ms. Parker then asked bluntly, "Where does she find them?" Shabbat Toledot: Genesis 25:19-28:9 Malachi 1:1-2:7. Stripped of its malice, the question points to a truth that applies to all of us. Where do we find our inferiors? - Indeed, isn't there something perverse in us when we begin to divide people into the categories of superior and inferior? Are we not obliged to consider other per- sons simply as human beings and accord them the considera- tion and respect due them by virtue of this towering endow- ment? Finally, many of us are often limited vision when we look upon Judaism. For some, Ju- daism is a meaningless collec- tion of antiquated rituals. For some, it is a gigantic relief soci- ety - engaged in an unending se- ries of campaigns. For others, it is just a folk superstition in which no well educated person can believe. For still others, it is a pleasant although innocuous pastime, suitable only for the very young or the very old. We can, if we will recapture a different vision,in which we per- ceive Judaism as having pre- sented the highest ideal the world has known — peace and justice and brotherhood. Ju- daism offers us a way of life based on faith and reason, a way of holiness and truth that can bless each day and hallow every act. ❑ Irwin Groner is senior rabbi of Con- gregation Shaarey Zedek.