kV.

THE JEWISH THEOLOGICAL
SEMINARY OF AMERICA
Copthab azoi&e,c5ott, to- itvy

A Different Look
METROPOLITAN DETROIT ANNUAL GALA At The Festivals

IN HONOR OF:

MARK SCHLUSSEL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

he Jewish calendar holds
many lessons hidden be-
neath the surface. Just
when you think you have
exhausted your understanding of
the messages that we as a people
are to glean from the holiday sys-
tem, a new thought emerges like
a bolt of lightening.
A new idea begins to take
shape. Once again the majesty of
our religion and its never ending
moral and spiritual guideposts,
rekindles our desire to search fur-
ther for the next great revelation.
I had such an experience a few
months ago when I was searching
for a connection between the three
festivals, Pesach, Shavuot and
Sukkot — other than those most
frequently ascribed to these har-
vest festivals. I began to look at
the structure of the three festivals
searching for a moral and theo-
logical message that might be hid-
den within the structure and rules
built into the festival system.
I began this quest by examin-
ing the rules associated with
Passover and an interesting pat-
tern became apparent. On
Passover the focus of the holiday
is on a set of restrictions associat-
ed with what we ingest. As we
evaluate the holiday, we are
drawn to the fact that most of
what we do during Passover cen-
ters on restricting our eating
habits to unleavened foods for an
eight-day period. Much of the hol-
iday of Passover revolves around
what we can and cannot eat. Does
this really make sense? Before we
attempt to answer this question
we should turn to the other re-
maining festivals and see how
they fit into the picture.
Shavuot differs greatly from
Passover. Shavuot does not have
any discernible symbols associat-
ed with it. The holiday is totally
cerebral in its obligations. We are
to focus on the study of Torah and
understand our value system. On
this holiday everything we do is
directed towards our intellect and
our understanding of our religious
traditions. Thus we can see on
Passover we internalize and on
Shavuot we intellectualize our be-
lief system.
As we explore the third of the
festivals, Sukkot, a pattern
emerges. On Sukkot our primary
focus is on the external world. We
leave the security of our homes to
out into the sukkah to spend our

T

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Beth Achim

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Adat Shalom

Doris & Dr. Lloyd Paul
B' ruzi Moshe

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Shaarey Zedek

Florence & Jack Schon
Beth Abraham Hillel Moses

Monday, June 23, 1997

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AIR CONDMONING
(810) 335-4555

Mark Schlussel is a past
president of Federation and a

(810) 738-6554

2380 Orchard Lake Road

just E of Loading Dock Plaza, Sylvan Lake

member of the board of
governors and a contributor to
the Jewish News.

time in a more vulnerable world.
In addition we take up the etrog
and the lulov in our prayers. These
again are external symbols.
Is there a valuable lesson of life
to be garnered from these three
festivals and their practices? I be-
lieve there is a profound lesson in
the synergy of the festivals. On
Passover we internalize; on
Shavuot we intellectualize; and
on Sukkot we externalize our val-
ue system. If we as individuals
don't believe our values in our
guts, and if we as individuals don't
understand our values, then we
are incapable of living those val-
ues in the world at large. This I
believe is the hidden lesson of the
three festivals. It is a lesson we
can apply to our daily lives and
it certainly need not be only in a
religious context. Our values,
whatever they may be, must be
imbedded within us from the core
of our souls to the gray matter of
our brains. Once this is accom-
plished, the transitory nature of
the outside world and its ever
changing values and mores no
longer threaten our personal val-
ue systems.
The message of the three festi-
vals is that if we truly believe in
ourselves and our values, we
should not feel a need to seek re-
ligious insularity to protect our-
selves form the extraordinary
opportunities and challenges of
our rapidly changing world. Have
faith in your beliefs and go out and
face this exciting new world. ❑

Memorial
Is Attacked

Buenos Aires (JTA) —
Uruguayan security officials are
investigating an arson attack
against a Holocaust memorial in
the capital of Montevideo.
A letter left at the site by a
group calling itself the Eastern
Special Command said, "All Jews
must leave Uruguay at once or
they will be exterminated."
The attack caused little dam-
age.
`This attack is not an act of ter-
rorism but our way to fight Jews,
communists, anarchists and any
other negative element in our
country," the letter said.
Uruguay, with a Jewish pop-
ulation of some 32,501).
ly free of anti-Semitic -violence.
Authorities in Uruguay said
they were "amazed" by the attack