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1

SUSAN TAWIL
Special to the Jewish News

C

ombining a stream of comic
banter with parodied cantor-
ial renditions, a senior lec-
turer at Ohr Somayach
Jerusalem drove home a powerful
message for the High Holidays in an
entertaining manner.
Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky spoke on
Sept. 13 to about 150 Lunch-and-
Learn participants packing the board-
room of the Max M. Fisher
Federation Building in Bloomfield
Township. The sponsor was Ohr
Somayach Detroit, an organization
specializing in adult Jewish education
opportunities for local Jews of all
affiliations.
Rabbi Orlofsky admitted that, as a
former "three-day-a-year Jew" himself,
he grew up hating the High Holidays.
"The feeling," he wisecracked, "was
that, if you could just stay in syna-
Rabbi David Orlofsky
gogue long enough, God would feel
so bad for you that He'd forgive all
your sins."
Back then, the future rabbi saw the theme of the High
Holidays as: "God hates you because you're evil.
Therefore, you're going to die!"
But, Rabbi Orlofsky said, this common impression of
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is very sad. He referred
to a surprising talmudic discussion in Tractate Tianit,
which asserts that Yom Kippur is one of the two happiest
days of the year.
He explained that the current Hebrew month of Elul,
preceding the High Holidays, is best characterized by a
Song of Songs verse whose Hebrew initials comprise the
acronym ELUL: "Ani l'clodi vdodi li — "I am my beloved's
and my beloved is mine"). We need this month, says the
rabbi, to reprogram our psyches to understand the true
message of the High Holidays: that God, in fact, loves us.

Improving Self-Worth

The word, "repentance," invoking visions of suffering,
"doesn't exist in Judaism," Rabbi Orlofsky said. "It's a bad
translation of the word teshuvah, which literally means
"return. "
Rabbi Orlofsky used the analogy of marriage to explain
•
the teshuvah process.
First, he said, in marriage there's a basic understanding
that the love is there. If mistakes are made, they'll be for-
given, as long as we first acknowledge the wrongdoing,
apologize, sincerely feel bad about it and resolve not to

9/22
2000

L

Setting life
goals can
help bring
people closer
to God.

repeat the error.
The main point, he said, is
that we make a genuine effort
to change for the better.
The rabbi then outlined a
four-step plan for self-
improvement, as developed by
Rabbi Yisroel Salanter (1810-
1883), the "Father of the
Mussar Movement," which
stresses development of ethical
behavior and perfection of
personality:
1) Formulate life goals: Who
do you want to be at the end
of your life? This is very differ-
ent from a career goal!
2) Set realistic goals and take
on small changes "that won't hurt."
3) Take on a few harder things, just for the 10 days from
Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur ("to remind us that we're
capable of more").
4) Write it down.

Always Becoming Better

If we do this every year, said Rabbi Orlofsky, we'll be clos-
er to the goal of being our best. Even if you're sure you
won't succeed, he said, "You can tell God you're a little
better this year and ask Him for another year to become
even better."
After the talk, Susan Sheiner of Huntington Woods said
she felt "more reflective and more equipped for the New
Year." She said the four-step plan was realty valuable: "It
gives you the message that you matter.
Fran Dell, also of Huntington Woods, appreciated
Rabbi Orlofsky's "lighthearted approach to such serious
subject matter" and thought the presentation gave her "a
different way to approach the holidays."
"It gave me a much more positive outlook," she said.
"The time flew by," said Mike Gerber of Farmington
Hills, about the rabbi's talk. "He was great, very inspiring.
He approached a very difficult subject in a way that was
understandable, humorous and motivating. He made it
sound so doable.
"We're all busy, but we can all do a little better every
year." ❑

'

