Torah Portio n

God And Man
And Reconciliation

ater
ers

V for

directly lead the Jewish people and
reveal Himself to Moses, but He fur- c
ther asks Moses to bring another set of
tablets upon which he can again
inscribe the symbol of the covenant.
With the new establishment of the
covenant, this indicates the completion
of the reconciliation between God and
the Jewish people.
he Torah reading for this
Thus, the reading for Shabbat Chol
Shabbat is of the Talmud
HaMoed treats the coming together
tractate Megilah 31a. "Rabbi
again -- perhaps on an even more inti-`
Huna said in the name of
mate level -- of the Jewish people and
Ray, (on) the Shabbat that falls during
God. The haftorah comes from Ezekiel
chol hamoed whether for Pesach or for
and describes Ezekiel's
Sukkot, the verses we read are
famous vision of the dry
from "You see ..." (Exodus
bones. The Jewish people,
33:12) and the haftorah for
languishing
in the
Pesach is "the dry bones ..."
Babylonian
exile
and their
14)
.
(Ezekiel 37:1
relationship to God are sym-
According to Rashi, the
bolized by the dry lifeless
reason for this reading is
bones that are miraculously
rather prosaic: There is a ref-
brought to life due to God's
erence in the verses to all
mercy and love for them.
three aspects of the day:
Similarly, the custom is to
Shabbat, yom tov and chol
read Song of Songs on
RABBI
hamoed. Beyond this, the
Shabbat
Chol HaMoed
ELIEZER
reading itself is certainly a
Pesach. This book celebrates
very meaningful one whose
COHEN
the beautiful love relation-
theme is one of reconcilia-
Special to The
ship between God and His
tion and a new intimacy
Jewish News
people with the joy of sensu-
between God and man after
al love poetry. It expresses
wrenching estrangement.
the
longing
and pleasure the two lovers
Immediately preceding this section
enjoy
in
their
mutual relationship.
of the Torah, we have the story of the
The reconciliation of God and His
sin of the golden calf. The Jewish peo-
people in the Torah reading and the
ple, convinced that Moses would not
resurrection that reflects their relation-
return to them from atop Mt. Sinai,
ship in the haftorah are celebrated to
insist that Aaron the high priest fashion
the fullest in the poetry of the Song of
an idol for them to worship. Moses,
Songs. This eternal mutual love and
upon viewing the frenzied idolatry,
intimacy are at.the very core of Jewish
breaks the tablets of the law that had
identity and reality. As Rabbi Akiva
been written by God himself, which
asserts
in the Mishna Yadaim 3:5,
were the proof and symbol of the
"The entire world is not as worthy as
covenantal relationship between God
the day Shir HaShirim (Song of •
and his people Israel. The symbol, as
Songs) was given to the Jewish people,
well as the covenant itself, has been
for all of the biblical writings are holy
shattered; and had it not been for the
and
Shir HaShirim is the Holy of
entreaties of Moses, God would have
Holies."Fl
even physically destroyed the nation.
He relents, but insists, "I will send My
intermediary before you ... because I
will not be in your midst because you
are a stubborn people, lest I destroy
Why is Pesach the holiday on
you on the way." (Exodus 33:3)
which we read this Torah portion,
Our Torah reading begins with
this haftorah and Shir HaShirim?
Moses' plea to God to again directly
How does God manifest His love
involve Himself with the Jewish people.
for the Jewish people? How does the
Upon God's agreement, Moses further
Jewish people demonstrate its love
urges that God reveal His very nature to
for God? How does the verse of
him. In this request, too, God accedes
Shma ("Hear, 0 Israel...") connect
to Moses' wishes, at least as much as it
to the following verse, "You should
is possible for a mortal to perceive and
love the Lord your God with all
understand about the infinite divine.
your heart, with all your soul and
Not only does God agree to
with all your might"?
Eliezer Cohen is rabbi of Congregation
Or Chadash.
EMMOMEZX

Shabbat Chol HaMoed
Pesach: Exodus 33:12-
34:26; Numbers 28:19-
25; Ezekiel 37:1-14.

Notorious
Higher Grount,,
The Contou
Bill Meye
en An

'

7

-

Maw

/Mb.
■ NI
MI

11-11/ A III wi t
M•1 11111 MAL —It

I'm

ismt AI
■ 111111/ ■ 1011/

111, 11111E-111111 MO/

EFFECTIVE AND DEPENDABLE PROTECTION
SINCE 1931

Featuring
"PERIMETER PLUS" Program
Exterior Non-Intrusive,
On-Call Pest
Prevention.

SENTRICONTm
the only
Termite Elimination Program,
non-intrusive
& eco-friendly.

We accept VISA & MasterCard.
Members of Michigan & National Pest Control Assoc.

M of Dow AGRO Sciences

ERADICO PEST CONTROL

CALL TOLL FREE

888-479-5900

Our 1st Annual lmprintable Sale

20% of all imprintobles
through the month of April
Hundreds of designs to choose from. 48-hour turn around.

(248) 855-2240

from...

The Boardwalk
West Bloomfield

e-mail: greetfrom@aol.com
Website:
www.greetingsfrom.invitations.com

Elia ME MIN

C:1,0SET DESIGNS

DESIGN • INSTALLATION • SERVICE

"The only call you need to make for the perfect closet."

Phone: (248) 851-2804

4/2
1999

58 Detroit Jewish News

m us
Conversaho