BHT OFF YOUR GREGOR
MOSE II MIME JUST RIGHT
MEGRIM PURIM
ANB PARTY An NIGHT!

DANCE TO THE MUSIC
PERFECT MICE YOU WILA: 'HEAR
FEASTING AND DRINKING
IT'S THE PARTY OF THE YEAR

C

COME TO B'NAI MOVE
FEBRUARY 2 21T+I IS TIlE DATE
8:00 P.M. IS THE TIME
IT'S GONNA BE GREAT

*bb OF THIS FUN
USUAllY DOESN'T COME CHEAP
. • SURPRISE! SURPRISE!
ONbY 2 1901:IARS PER SEAT!

/

\••

FOR RESERVATIONS CALL, 810-788-0600

CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM

Triple Crown of PURIM Events . . .

• PURIM CARNIVAL & MITZVAH FAIR
Sunday, March 3rd, 11:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Food • Mitzvot • Craft • Games
Prizes • Fun!
• 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
"MASK PUPPET THEATRE"

Cost:

$3.00 per person
Scholarships are available*

The Mask Puppet Theatre from Ann Arbor
will entertain with a special Purim Program
• PURIM MEGILLAH READING
Traditional and Children's
Monday, March 4th, 7:00 p.m.
Groggers • Costume Parade
Fun • Hamentashen & More

FAMILIES AND FRIENDS UNAFFILIATED WITH
BETH SHALOM ARE WARMLY WELCOME!!

14410 Lincoln Road • Oak Park • 810-547-7970

This program is made possible by a grant from the Max M. Fisher Foundation.

We Must All Be Aware
Of What Is Required

RABBI ELIEZER COHEN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

W

ith a twinkle in his eye,

my father-in-law point-
ed out that Moshe was
truly wise in accepting
the advice of his father-in-law,
Yitro.
I responded that if God told me
to listen to my father-in-law, that
I, too, would consider it. Serious-
ly, Yitro's observation that Moshe
could not hope to personally judge
the whole nation by himself is
rather obvious. The wonder is
that Moshe himself didn't realize
the impossibility of one man (par-
ticularly with all of his other
duties) judging the disputes and
answering the questions of an
entire nation single-handedly.
Why did Moshe attempt to ful-
fill this duty by himself? What did
Yitro see that Moshe didn't? And
why, after speaking to Yitro, did
Moshe set up the bureaucracy
that would alleviate his burden
and enable the nation to function
properly?
When asked by Yitro what he
was doing, Moshe answers, "The
nation comes to me to inquire of
God ... and I make known to them
the statutes of God and His teach-
ings." (Exodus 18:15-16) Moshe
understands his responsibility as
the intermediary between divine
and human. His role as prophet
was being fulfilled on the per-
sonal, intimate level of the every-
day lives of each of the Jewish
people.
As difficult as such a responsi-
bility was, how could the prophet
abdicate? The people came to him,
not for his opinion or advice, but
to learn what God required of
them; Moshe alone was God's
prophet.
Yitro advised him, "You should
be to the nation as God's inter-
mediary and you will bring mat-
ters to God and teach them the
statutes and the teachings and
make known to them the way
that they should go and that
which they should do ... and they
(the others appointed) will judge
the nation at all times and it will
be that the important matters
they will bring to you and every
small matter they will judge ..."

difference. The verse that de-
scribes Moshe's new role had only
a one word difference from Yitro's
advice. That one word makes all
the difference in the world.
The Torah says that the judges
" ... would judge the nation at all
times; the difficult matters they
would bring to Moshe and the
small matters they would judge."
(Exodus 18:26) For Moshe, the

Shabbat Yitro:
Exodus 18:1- 20:23
Isaiah 6:1 - 7:6;
9:5-6.

crucial distinction was between
those matters simple enough for
the judges to know the proper ap-
plication of God's law and those
matters too difficult for all but the
prophet himself.
Moshe rejected the distinction;
for Moshe, God's will was mani-
fest in every aspect of human life
— commitment to God's Torah
and the divine law requires ab-
solute consistency and compliance
in all matters — important or
seemingly insignificant.
This is the point Yitro failed to
fully understand and appreciate,
as do many of our contemporary
Jews. ❑

B'nai David
Nursery School

Congregation B'nai David will
host an open house for its new
nursery school on Tuesday, Feb.
20, beginning at 8 p.m. at the syn-
agogue.
The open house will consist of
an informational mee ing to meet
the faculty and a tour to view the
facilities. A question and answer
period will follow. Light refresh-
ments will be served.
For information or to respond,
call the synagogue office, (810)
855-5007.

(Exodus 18:19 22)
This then was Yitro's sugges-
tion: Moshe would serve as the
prophet, the intermediary; and
the judges would judge, and only
the major matters would warrant
Moshe's personal attention.
Moshe, it would seem, accept-
ed Yitro's suggestion — subject to
God's approval — with one major

Temple Offers
Judaism Class

Eliezer COhen is rabbi of Young
Israel of Oak-Woods.

Temple Israel will begin an 11-
week Introduction to Judaism
class on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 7:30

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