, ATTENTION HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS AND THEIR FAMILIES Since the late 1950's, the Jewish Family Service has assisted large numbers of Holo- caust survivors successfully file claims against the German government. In accordance with the Jewish Family Service's records management policy, records of deceased clients would normally be destroyed. However, due to the historical and archival significance of these records, they will be turned over to the Detroit Holocaust Memorial Museum in December. These are NOT clinical records. They document location, sites of internment and abuses, perpetrated by the Nazis and are of crucial archival significance. Access to these records will be carefully monitored to main confidentiality. , If you are the next of kin to a deceased survivor who filed a claim against the Ger- man government and do NOT want your relative's file to be archived at the Holo- caust Museum, call the Jewish Family Service at 559-1500 to arrange to pick up your relative's file. 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Ever the hos- pitable host, Abraham invited the three strangers to come to his tent and rest from their weary journey. It was a mitzvah to in- vite traveling strangers into his tent. Abraham had Sarah outdo herself in preparing a sumptuous meal, little knowing that the three strangers had come with a mission to tell Abraham that he was to have an heir and that Sarah would have a son. When Sarah overheard that the three strangers predicted a baby, she laughed to herself or maybe out oud. She thought she was too old to bear a child. But they re- sponded, "Is anything too won- drous for the Lord?" She was chastised for laughing, but the strangers said a year from now she would have a son. Abraham reminds one of the old man standing at the well of his village and greeting weary travelers who passed along the way. Whenever the old man was asked, `What kind of people live in your village!" He would en- counter with a question of his own, 'What kind of people did you find in your village?" To trav- elers who complained that their village was filled with people who were selfish, dishonest, incon- siderate, he would shake his head and reply, "Alas, the same type of people live here." But for those travelers that stated where they lived were people friendly, warm, understanding, and hospitable, the old man would counter the answer, "We have exactly the same type of people living here." People often find what they are looking for. One man will see syn- agogues. Another will see noth- ing but bars. One person will find men and women dishonest, shrewd, and jealous. Another will find people offering friendship. What a person finds is what each one is looking for. Jews are taught to seek beauty, character, and nobility in others; but, unfortunately, most people are concerned with their own bodies and their neighbors' souls. To improve our world we should leave our neighbors' souls alone and instead worry about our neighbors' bodies and their own welfare. Dr. Richard C. Hertz is distinguished professor of Jewish studies at the University of Detroit-Mercy. Abraham's hospitality shows that he truly loved his fellow man. Once the rabbi of Saasov taught his disciples the meaning of love in this way. There was a conversation between two of his disciples. The first said, "Tell me, do you love me?" "I love you deeply," replied the second. Said the first, "Do you know, my friend, what gives me pain!" "No, what gives you pain?" answered the second. Said the first, "If you do not know what gives me pain, how can you say that you truly love me!" The rabbi was trying to teach his disciples that to truly love means to know what brings pain to your fellow man. The sedrah continues with the famous story of Sodom and Go- morrah. After taking the hospitality of Abraham the three strangers set off towards Sodom. Abraham was somehow privy to the decision about Sodom. Their evil ways and their lack of hospitality had been known to Abraham repeatedly. When Sodom had visitors, they brought them inside their tents. If their feet were too long for the bed, the Sodomites cut off the feet. The people of Sodom and Go- morrah were insensitive to the suffering of others. They prac- Shabbat Veyera: Genesis 18:1-22:24 II Kings 4:1-37. ticed sexual perdition and licen- tiousness. They had no concern for the welfare of strangers and because of their depravity and corruption; because they showed no hospitality to strangers, they were being punished. Abraham having known about Sodom and Gomorrah began to argue with God as mankind's first lawyer. Abraham was not like Noah, indifferent to the fate of his fellow beings. He was con- cerned, disturbed. Three times Abraham pleads with God. Abra- ham was moved by compassion to speak and bargain with God, even though the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were depraved pagans, Abraham's universal faith moved him to plead with the universal God to spare the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. "Shall the judge of all the earth deal justly?" Abraham's passion for justice and righteousness insisted that the innocent not have to suf- fer with the guilty even if the innocent were a minority. Then comes the bargaining.