THE DEUTSCH FAMILY SPEAKERS FUND
Congregation
B'nai Moshe
SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE 1995 Our Religion Espouses
An Introspective Weekend
A Sacred Love
"Sacred Moments in a Chaotic World"
RABBI WILLIAM LEBEAU
Vice Chancellor Jewish Theological Seminary
Dean of Rabbinical School
Friday, May 5, 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 6, 9 a.m.
Family Service
Dinner to Follow
Services and Youth Shabbat
Kiddush to Follow
Saturday, May 6, 7-11 p.m.
Conclude Shabbat in "STYLE"
Mincha, Dinner, Scholar Session,
Havdallah, Dessert and Entertainment
There will be a charge for Friday and Saturday
night dinners. Advance Reservations: 788-0600
Weekend to honor the
memory of
Rabbi Moses Lehrman
--Ver
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WEDNESDAY
MAY 24
1995
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The Reva Stocker Educational Lecture Series
is proud to present its second annual lecture:
FROM VIOLENCE TO HEALING.
This presentation will address the issue of child
abuse and its long term effect on adult survivors.
Our guest speaker will be Christina Crawford,
a pioneer in advocating for women and children, and
noted author of the No Safe Place, Mommy Dearest,
and Survivor.
This timely lecture is being made available
to the entire community at no charge.
For more information, please call
(810) 559-1500
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FAMILY
SERVICE
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RABBI IRWIN GRONER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
D
wring the season of
Passover, the tradition in-
structs us that we are to
read one of the five Megillot
or scrolls known as Shir-Ha-Shir-
im - The Song of Songs the story
of a very tender romance between
a shepherd and a maiden.
Set in the springtime of the
year, it describes the care and af-
fection that develops between
these two lovers. One of its most
memorable passages begins with
"Set me as a seal upon thy heart
— as a seal upon thine arm — be-
cause love is as strong as death
— passion is more powerful than
the grave — its flashes of fire, a
very flame of the Lord."
How remarkable that the ven-
erable sages of ancient Israel des-
ignated this love story as part of
the sacred scripture and then or-
dained its reading during the fes-
tival of Passover. The reason
should be noted. Jewish tradition
declares that this song is an al-
legory.
This is more than a story about
a romance between two young
lovers, for it is a saga of the love
between God and His people. The
figures portrayed symbolize the
relationship between the sover-
eign of the universe and those
who revere His name. For this
reason, the revered Rabbi Akiva
declared that all the writings of
scriptures are holy, but the Song
of Songs is kodesh kadashim —
the holiest of all the holy writings.
This ancient truth needs re-
statement in our time. We don't
understand the inner life of the
Jewish people by studying their
laws or reviewing their history.
We grasp the deepest level of
Jewish experience by consider-
ing this romance. The story of the
Jew is the epic of a great love.
It was that love — between the
Jew and his folk, between the
Jew and his God, between the
Jew and mankind — that en-
abled the Jewish people to
achieve an unique place in histo-
ry and to be distinctive among all
the nations of the world. With
this love, the Jew could be the vic-
tim of world's madness and still
maintain his sanity. He could be
beaten, but he was never defeat-
ed. He could be reduced to pover-
ty, but he was an aristocrat of the
spirit.
The sacred love that Judaism
celebrated has several aspects.
First, it requires the fulfillment
of obligations and a faithful as-
sumption of duties. A husband
who does not show any responsi-
Irwin Groner is senior rabbi of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
bility for his wife doesn't really
love her. A wife who does not of-
fer care and concern about her
husband does not really love him.
Parents who are unconcerned
about the welfare of their chil-
dren do not love them. The test
of love is the level of responsibil-
ity that we are ready to accept be-
cause of it.
Do we love Judaism? The real
question is are we willing to do
something more because of that
love? What responsibility will we
assume to show our love for our
faith? What mitzvah will we per-
form?
Do we love Israel? What are
we prepared to give and to offer
both materially and personally
on behalf of Israel and on behalf
of all our people in all the lands
of their dispersion?
If the first aspect of love is the
assumption of responsibility, the
second is the desire for knowledge
and understanding. Before one
can love, one must know the ob-
ject of his love.
Shabbat - Eighth Day
of Passover:
Deuteronomy
15:19-16:17
Numbers 28:19-25
Isaiah 10:32-12:6.
Can we love Judaism without
knowing it? For the traditional
Jew, the Bible, the Talmud, and
the commentaries were the ways
in which he came to know what
was required of him, and how he
was to fulfill the covenant of his
love.
The rabbis did not regard the
Torah as a collection of laws.
They viewed the Torah as a love
letter,written on Mt. Sinai in a
moment of divine ecstasy. Every
Jew was a recipient of that love
letter. Every Jew entered the con-
vent of ldve when he studied
Torah and he came to know what
was required of him.
This explains our concern
about and out commitment to
Jewish education. Jewish educa-
tion is the path to the acquisition
of Jewish devotion. That's why
Jewish education must be a pri-
ority for the Jewish community.
We cannot train a generation of
young Jews to love their religion,
their heritage and their people
unless they know, understand
and comprehend the objects of
their love.