,:zotooriz.......1

3,...,,,,,,....N2,

argain I
Books

We Have

250,000 Books

ALL NEW, ALL KINDS AND ALWAYS AT

50-90°Ax

Off the Publisher's List

'wimpy At Odd lake,
N
11111111. willr S. of 14 in the Kma rt Plaza
OPEN! 737-7143

COMPLAISANT

Jackets, Pants, Skirts, Sweaters
& Accessories • Women's Sizes 2-16

COMPLAISANT

6720 Orchard Lake Road
West Bloomfield (next to Deli Unique)
248-855-6566

TIE ONE ON

ONLY AT THE SHIRT BOX

The Shirt Box, Shirts and a Whole Lot More.

HOURS: Mon.-Sat. 9:30-6 • Thurs. till 7

Always 20°/0-35% Off Retail

Courtyard Center • 32500 Northwestern Hwy. • Farmington Hills, MI 48334 • (248) 851 - 6770

704/ted

e
eueottd & rite
utertice4, ceitemette Oapst
eectace Avrteti
e4eez c(.4 mit at:

C€444 4

4 "

f► emtied,

rymmmwer,ft-awsmantilmmmow

premium-

2)P Q-ervieei

WVJ

2 Q @Afid(;)PitIAVQ66M

or coil 248.549.1330

*****STAIRWAY LIFTS* * * * *

THE CAREFREE WAY TO
CLIMB STAIRS

9/1
000

When you're disabled, or just not able to move around
as freely as you once could, stairs can be a real prob-
lem. But there is a simple answer. The powered stairway
liff. Easily installed to fit curved or straight stairs. They
give you back the ability to move around your own
home. Folds back-gets in nobody's way.
CALL OR STOP BY FOR A FREE DEMONSTRATION

ACTON RENTAL & SALES

LARRY ARONOFF

Torah Portion

...,30,15.01016.1..,.......1,....,.....
,,.......V...,.........,...,
..,..............1......,.....,.....

I love my
Stairway Lift!

It lakes me up
and down The
stairs with the
push of a but-
ton. Call for
details!

(313) 891-6500 (248) 540-5550

The Desire To Serve
Leads One To Righteousness

fruit. So, too, God is the desire and
the hope of the righteous.
This midrash compares the
human quest for God and His ser-
vice to the natural, biological drive
for living things (and, figuratively
speaking, even trees) to reproduce.
Man's yearning to discover and
acknowledge the meaning of exis-
tence, the source of all, to develop a
his week's Torah portion
relationship to the divine, is seen as
deals primarily with vari-
an inborn, natural and very powerful
ous positions of authority
primal drive. This craving to seek
for leading a Torah-pre-
and to serve God for the midrash, is
scribed nation and community. It
speaks of the responsibili-
the very source of right-
ties, authority and privileges
eousness.
of the judges (and rabbis),
Judaism, the revealed
the king, the Levites and the
method to relate to God,
priests.
one that has successfully
Among the verses relating
nurtured and satisfied the
to the Levites and priests is
religious yearning of our
one that uses a very strange
ancestors for millennia, has
term in reference to service
to a large extent, it seems,
to God. The verses
lost its efficacy and mean-
(Deuteronomy 18:6,7) say:
ing for millions of Jews.
"When the Levite comes
RABBI ELIEZER For us, how many find the
from one of your gates from
prayers and practices, the
COHEN
anywhere in Israel, wherever
laws and customs of
Special to the
he dwells, and comes with
Judaism
really meaningful
Jewish News
all avas nafsho to the place
and life-altering?
that the Lord chose and he
For all too many, rites of
Judaism are observed for nothing
serves in the name of the Lord his
God
more than nostalgia or social purpos-
.
The term avas naliho is usually
es. The vast majority of Jews do not
observe at all. At this time of year, in
translated as "desire of his soul" but
particular, the vast distance between
elsewhere in the Torah the term is
the meaningful religious experience
used in a rather negative sense denot-
potentially inherent in the High
ing a very strong, perhaps uncontrol-
Holy Days and the purely superficial
lable urge or lust. Yet here the term
and the bereft-of-meaning way in
is used relating to the service of God.
which we practice it (if at all) is so
Apparently, the Torah is describ-
obviously apparent.
ing one who is driven by an inner
Surely that which nourished and
need to serve God. This compulsion
sustained the religious yearnings of
is certainly viewed positively in the
midrash (Numbers Raba 3:1): "To
myriad generations of Jews can touch
and direct our souls too. Let us
what does this verse: (Psalms 92:13)
resolve between now and Rosh
`The righteous shall bloom like the
HaShana (and hopefully from this
date palm tree ...' refer? Just as a date
palm has ta'ava (desire, urge, lust) so
Rosh HaShana onward for the rest of
our lives) to do what we can to
too the righteous have such desire.
enable our souls to seek and find
What is their desire? It is the Holy
God in a meaningful and fruitful
One, blessed be He; as it says: (Isaiah
26:9): 'My soul Avisicho (desires You)
way — not as it has been in the past,
as sterile and unproductive as Rav
at night even my spirit within me
Tanchum's poor palm tree.
seeks You ...'
Rav Tanchum said there was an
incident with a date palm that stood
at Hamsan and bore no fruit. They
pollinated it and it still produced no
fruit, until a palm cultivator told
Is God truly meaningful in our
them: 'I've seen a palm tree from
lives? Are we satisfied with our reli-
Jericho and its heart desires that one.
gious practice? Should we be?
They brought (pollen) from that one
What can we do to make it more
and then it immediately produced
meaningful and satisfying? Why

Shabbat Shoftim:
Deuteronomy
16:18-21:9;
Isaiah 51:12-52:12.

T

Conversations

Eliezer Cohen is rabbi of Congregation

Or Chadash.

not start now?

MRMW‘:: . 'N; NW,WiNWN

