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LX 450's
AVAILABLE

!ESN

'379*

Stock #96131

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LUXURY VALUE PACKAGE

aS400

•

C4)

Ci)
AN)

4.4

Chrome Wheels • ABS Brakes • Power 0
Door Locks • Power Antenna •
Automatic • Dual Air Bags • Remote ,ItTy
Entry • Power Windows • Stereo
ty
Cassette • Leather Interior • Heated
Seats • Sunroof • CD

'659*

$2,995 DOWN

•

The Human Hand
Applies Divine Law

2

P.1

Leather • Dual Air Bags • Remote
Entry • ABS Brakes • AM/FM Stereo
Cassette CD 6-Play • Alloy Wheels •
tin
Automatic • Trac Control • Leather •
Power Sunroof

•

Shabbat Third Day Passover: Exodus 33:12 - 34:26;
Numbers 28:19-25; Ezekiel 37:14.

RABBI ELIEZER COHEN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

I

n the Torah portion for Chol
Hamoed Pesach, we have es-
sentially a re-establishment
of the brit (covenant) between
God and the Jewish people fol-
lowing the worship of the gold-
en calf.
Moses had shattered the
Tablet of the Law at the sight of
the people dancing wildly before
the idol. These tablets, called the
Luchos Ho'Eydus — the tablets
of testimony — were the proof
of the relationship of God to hu-
man beings: On them were
recorded the divine utterances
that the Jewish people heard at
Sinai as proof of God's existence,
His concern for human beings
and the divine origin of the law.

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'94 Camaro Z28 Convertible
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'95 SC300
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$38,990

'94 Lexus LS400
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'93 ES300
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'95 VOLVO 850 TURBO
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'93 LS400
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'93 GS300
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27,990

'93 SC400
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Loaded

29,890

32,990

*24 month closed end lease. 24,000 miles maximum, 150 per mile over. $995 cap cost reduction, $400 ref. sec. dep. First
monthly payment, tax, title fee. Purchase option at lease end: $25,435.08.
** 36 month closed end lease. 36,000 miles maximum, 15e per mile over. $2,995 cap cost reduction. First month payment,
tax, title fee, $500 ref. sec. dep. due at inception. Purchase option at lease end: $32,902.04.

DIR

Exit 104 off 1-96 • 5709 S. Pennsylvania, Lansing • 517/394-8000 (CALL COLLECT)

For a personal showing:
Call 1-800-539-8748 OR 1-800-LEXUS-4-U

THE DETROIT JEWISH N EWS

The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection -

30

The tablets were to be the fo-
cus of the tabernacle (called the
tabernacle of testimony) for
whereas the pagan temples
housed the image of the idol-god,
in the tabernacle the throne was
empty to emphasize the incor-
poreality of God; but the ark con-
tained the tablets to represent
the centrality of the divine law.
After the sin of the golden calf,
Moses threw down these origi-
nal tablets as if to acknowledge
that the human condition pre-
cluded their acceptance, much
as the sin in Eden demonstrat-
ed the nature of man's free will.
In our Torah portion, God
calls upon Moses in order to re-
establish the covenant as a sign
of His forgiveness; and, in fact,
a number of commandments ap-

Eliezer Cohen is the former
rabbi of Young Israel of Oak-
Woods.

pear in our reading almost iden-
tical to those in Parshat Mish-
potim where the first covenant
appears, to indicate this re-es- -
tablishment of the brit.
Laws of Pesach are among
those repeated laws, which is os-
tensibly the reason for its des-
ignation as a portion to be read
on Pesach.
In addition, Moses is told,
"Carve yourself two tablets of
stone like the first ones and I
will write on the tablets the
things that were on the first
ones that you broke." This time
the tablets themselves were of
human origin. The new tablets
were a combination, a synthesis
of the divine together with the
human.
Torah, by its very nature con-
tains the divine imperative, but
now requires human input to be-
come a practical reality.
Human beings become not
only transmitters of the divine
Torah, but the interpreters, the
deciders and those that apply
the divine law. In fact, after the
prophecy of Moses, Jewish law
becomes the province of human
beings alone; for no law was to
be determined to be prophetic
messages from God.
The Talmud illustrates this
principle by telling the story of
the dispute between Rabbi
Eliezer and the other sages.
Rabbi Eliezer, in an attempt to
prove the validity of his opinion,
first called upon a carob tree to
be miraculously uprooted; sec-
ondly, a stream of water to
miraculously flow backwards;
and thirdly, for the very wells of
the study hall to miraculously
topple. In each case the oppos-
ing rabbis remained uncon-
vinced. Even when a divine voice
declared that Rabbi Eliezer's
opinion should be followed, the
rabbis declared, "It (the law) is
not in heaven; the law was al-
ready given and we are told 'Fol-
low the majority."' As the story
continues, Elijah the prophet is
asked what God is doing during
this dispute, to which he replies,
"He was laughing and declared,
"My children are victorious over
Me!"
Thus clearly, it is human be-
ings who have the authority and
responsibility to interpret, de-
cide and apply the divine law,
but only those who are qualified.
They must absolutely be com-
mitted to the observance ofJew-
ish law and tradition; they must