The Cultural Commission Of
Congregation Beth Abraham Hillel Moses
Proudly Presents
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AN EVENING OF DINNER, DANCING AND LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
To Maintain Judaism
Is To Maintain Tradition
Shabbat Vaetchanan: Deuteronomy 3:23-7:1 1 ;
Isaiah 40:1-26.
RABBI ELIEZER COHEN
Henny
Youngman
he blh' ey er • Pelle 1
AND FEATURING
Cantor Ben-Zion Lanxner
WITH THE
4 1
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SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH
liAlith the Fast of Tisha
B'Av commemorating
the destruction of the
Temples and the begin-
ning of the Jewish exiles taking
place last week, we have this
week Shabbat Nachamu — the
Sabbath of Comfort.
The Haftorah for this week —
and, in fact, for seven consecutive
weeks — speaks of consolation,
reconciliation and redemption.
The observance of Tisha B'Av it-
self manifests the greatest won-
der of human history — the
survival of the Jewish people.
Every year for millennia, we
Jews have fasted and cried,
mourned and bemoaned our
perennial suffering — more suf-
fering than any other people in
the history of the world — and
yet we survive and are able to
continue to mourn. This week's
sedrah also speaks of Jewish sur-
vival.
Moses, in his farewell address
to the Jewish people, tells the
people; "Your eyes have seen
what God did at Baal P'eor that
every man that went after Baal
P'eor (idolatry and immorality)
was destroyed by the Lord, your
God, from your midst. And you
that remain faithful are alive —
all of you — today." The verse is
not simply reminding the Jewish
people of God's punishment, it is
stating the fact that has been ev-
ident throughout Jewish history:
Those that maintain the Jewish
tradition survive as Jews and
those that forsake the Jewish tra-
dition ultimately are no longer
"in the midst" of the Jewish peo-
ple; they assimilate and disap-
pear as Jews.
This tradition that is so crucial
to Jewish survival also is clearly
described in the words of Moses
(Deuteronomy 4:1-2): "And now,
Israel, listen to the rules and
judgements which I command
you to do in order that you will
live and come to take possession
of the land which the Lord, the
God of your fathers, gives to you.
Do not add to the word that I
command you nor subtract from
it; to keep the commands of the
Lord, your God, that I command
you." According to the Torah it-
self, the survival of the Jewish
people depends on the mainte-
nance of the authentic Torah and
its traditions. Changes, either ad-
dition or deletions, that do dam-
Eliezer Cohen is rabbi of
Congregation Or Chadash.
NEWS
Eliezer Cohen
age to the authentic spirit and
letter of the tradition are formu-
la for national suicide.
A further description of the tra-
dition continues in the verses of
the Torah (Deuteronomy 4:5-8):
"See, I have taught you rules and
judgements as the Lord, my God,
commanded me to do according-
ly in the midst of the land that
you come here to possess. And
you will keep them and do them
because it is your wisdom and
your understanding in the eyes
of nations who will hear all of
these rules and say, 'Only wise
and understanding is this great
nation.' For who is a great nation
that has God close to it like the
Lord, our God, whenever we call
to Him? And who is a great na-
tion that has righteous rules and
judgements like all of this Torah
that I put before you today?"
The Torah tells us that if we
keep our tradition properly that
even the non-Jewish nations of
the world will understand and
appreciate the wisdom and
greatness of our traditions. Our
behavior will demonstrate a holy
life whose origin is divine and
whose practices manifest God's
closeness to us.
This is the real Torah and au-
thentic Judaism — an obser-
vance that even the non-Jew will
recognize and appreciate for its
wisdom, holiness and righteous-
ness. Alas, how far our obser-
vance seems to be from this ideal.
Perhaps we should emphasize
the other theme of the Fast of
Tisha B'Av — namely repentance
and renewed effort to live prop-
erly as Jews.
❑