Mark your calendar!
Mark your calendar!
Mark your calendar!
National Council of Jewish Women
Greater Detroit Section
celebrates the silver anniversary
of Kosher Meals on Wheels
Wednesday, May 21, 1997
Temple Beth El
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JEWISH FAMILY
and honors these recipients of the Josephine S. Weiner Award
Dennis W. Archer, Mayor, City of Detroit
Edward Sosnick, Judge, Oakland County Circuit Court
Janette Shand, Executive Director, Kadima
with guest speaker Dr. Ruth Westheimer
Shelly Cooper --- Doreen Hermelin --- Sandra leshman
General Chairpersons
Joyce Rubenstein
Vice President
Program & Membership
Mark your calendar!
Marta Rosenthal
President
Mark your calendar!
Linda Bloom
Vice President
Fundraising
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God's Commandments
Bring Him Into Our Lives
Shabbat Vayakhel: Exodus 35:1-38:20;
II Kings 12:1-17; I Samuel 20:18, 42.
I
n the beginning of this week's for Me. And I will dwell in the
Torah portion, Moses gathers midst of the Jewish people and
the people to tell them of God's be God to them," (Exodus 29).
command to collect the mate-
The Torah goes to inordinate
rials and to construct the taber- length and detail to describe the
nacle.
construction of the tabernacle
Rather than begin with the (mishkan — dwelling place). Al-
discussion of the taber-
most the whole last half of
nacle, Moses starts with
Exodus comprises three
an exhortation to observe
detailed descriptions. The
Shabbat. The juxtaposi-
first is God's command to
tion of Shabbat and the
Moses concerning the
construction of the taber-
mishkan and the priestly
nacle is used in the Tal-
vestments. We have the
mud to define the
description that Moses re-
observance of Shabbat as
laths to the people so that
a refraining from engag-
they can donate and actu-
RABBI
ing in the 39 categories
ally construct the
of creative activity nec- ELIEZER COHEN mishkan. Then we have
essary for the construc- SPECIAL TO THE the description of the con-
JEWISH NEWS
tion. "Work" per se is not
struction and erection of
prohibited, but rather
the mishkan, which was
any activity that falls into one of only ostensibly going to be used
these categories and thus ac- for a very limited time while the
complishes a creative change of people traveled through the
reality is proscribed on Shabbat. wilderness to Canaan. Had it not
The parallel to the proverbial been for the unfortunate episode
"resting" of God on the seventh with the scouts Moses sent to spy
day of creation is obvious.
out the land which caused a de-
Taken together, Shabbat and lay of 40 years, it would only have
the tabernacle conceptually rep- been for two years. Why then all
resent the two sides of the same the detail and repetition?
coin. Each indicates the possibil-
This, it seems to me, is exact-
ity of godliness, of sanctity in this ly the point. The Torah is em-
world. Shabbat demonstrates the phasizing the fact that to bring
sanctity of place — together they God into our lives it is imperative
demonstrate the potential to for us to heed His command in
sanctify and the spirit of the di- every detail and to comply ab-
vine in the reality of the world.
solutely. The verses that describe
How the infinite and the tran- the erection of the mishkan re-
scendent can relate to the finite, peat 18 times, with each of the
physical world and to its human parts separately, "as the Lord
inhabitants is a question pon- commanded Moses." Each vessel
dered and discussed by genera- and each step was done in ab-
tions of philosophers and solute accordance with divine
theologians; but the fact that it will.
does is the fundamental core of
The mishkan in every detail
Jewish belief and practice. Time was built in compliance with and
and space, the very stuff of phys- subservience to the divine com-
ical existence, are sanctified; and mand; the verse clearly states:
God's presence in this world is "And Moses saw all the creative
manifest through our human ac- activity and behold they had done
tions.
it as the Lord had commanded,
"... Keep my Sabbath because thus they did and Moses blessed
it is a sign between Me and you them," (Exodus 39:43).
for all generations to know that
Because of that "... the glory of
I am the Lord who sanctified the Lord filled the mishkan."
you," (Exodus 31:13). The obser-
vance of Shabbat, our acknowl-
edgement of its potential sanctity,
brings this sanctity into the
world. Our building of the taber-
nacle, the donation of its materi-
als and its construction by
human hands bring the symbol
of God's presence into the world.
"I sanctify the Tent of Meeting
and the altar, and Aaron and his The Sephardic Community of
sons I sanctify to serve as priests Greater Detroit will hold its
annual Purim party 6:30 p.m.
Eliezer Cohen is rabbi of
Saturday, March 22, at Congre-
Congregation Or Chadash.
gation Beth Achim.
Sephardic
Purim Party