SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
StaffWriter

Rabbi Eddie Feinstein kicks off Seminars
for Adult Jewish Enrichment 20 02.

abbi Eddie Feinstein knows
the secret of life.
And he shared it last week with 600
guests of the third annual Shiffiiian Family
Lecture at the kickoff event of Seminars for Adult
Jewish Enrichment (SAJE) at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield.
"Judaism has secrets to teach you," said the rabbi in
his Jan. 10 talk, "A Brief History of Chutzpah: Our
Ability to Say 'Yes' to Life."
"It has secrets to life and to wisdom and they are
within the text of Jewish tradition if you know how to
read them."
Between the laughter and the audience singalong he
led, Rabbi Feinstein offered the group a simple decree
of the way to live a good life.
"The world is broken," he said. "It is the great mis-
sion of the Jewish people to be the eyes, hands and
heart of God, to make it whole again."
Rabbi Feinstein is spiritual leader of Conservative
synagogue Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, Calif., and
an instructor at the Ziegler Rabbinical School of the
University of Judaism in Los Angeles.

Repairing The World

With the animated proficiency of the storyteller that he
is, Rabbi Feinstein's arms swung and his voice roared as

he announced, "We live in a world worth caring about,
worth living in."
Fora man who has survived both cancer and a
home-destroying earthquake, he still feels the world
can be healed — by taking on the feelings of others.
"We must be one with the inner city child, the kids
with AIDS," he says. "Their pain is our pain. The frus-
tration of a teacher without text books is our frustra-
),
tion.
He reminds that the world is our legacy "If you see
the world in danger of destruction, stand up and do
something."
And help your children to also make a difference.
"Tell your kids there is a corner of the world with your
name on it," Rabbi Feinstein says. "Tell them, only
you and your talents can make it whole and beautiful.
Apply all your imagination and strength and courage."

What Can We Do?

Rabbi Feinstein's suggestion for personal ways to repair
the world are simple. "I'm not asking you to change
your way of Jewish life, ritual or community activity"
he says, "but do it in a new spirit.
"Light candles, give tzedakah, say prayers, learn
Torah, but do them differently. Do it all, reflecting on
this great task of bringing oneness to the world."

Inspired by Rabbi Feinstein, Judy
Ginsberg of Farmington Hills says, "I
wish those who are negative had been
able to hear the uplifting, positive words
of the rabbi. We are not helpless or
powerless to make a change."
Mickey Gold of West Bloomfield was as moved as
her friend. "He reminded us, 'Don't complain, get up
and do something.'"
Cantor David Montefiore of Congregation Beth
Ahm, attended. "It's all about doing unto others as you
wish them to do unto you," he says. "The Jewish
imperative to 'love thy neighbor.'"
"Our mantra," says Doris Blechman, SAJE co-chair
with Susie Citrin, should be, "It's good, and if its not,
let's fix it."
SAJE classes, currently under way, offer more than
40 four-week mini-courses on a variety of subjects
taught by area rabbis, cantors, Jewish educators, profes-
sionals and community leaders.
SAJE is sponsored by the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan Detroit, the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit's Alliance for Jewish Education .
and Agency for Jewish Education, and the Detroit
Jewish News. •
Rabbi Feinstein's talk was co-sponsored by the Anti-
Defamation League, Jewish Family Service, Federation's
Community Outreach and Education Department
and Federation's Alliance for Jewish Education.

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For related commentary: page 5

1/18
2002

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