EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

A Feverish Embrace

I

developed a fever welcoming Shabbat, the holiest of
days, at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield on
Friday night.
It's a fever I hope to keep. That's because the
Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming the Sabbath) service, "Friday
Night Fever," was something special, especially with so many
kids and grandkids there.
Led by Shaarey Zedek Rabbi Jonathan Berkun and his wife
Rabbi Lauren Berkun, a Jewish Theological Seminary of
America midwest rabbinic fellow responsible
for adult education, the informal service was
both uplifting and invigorating.
On a deeper plane, it caused me to think
more resolutely about Israel, the beloved
Jewish state, and how it needs American
Jewry now more than ever for sustenance in
the face of relentless suicide bombings by
Palestinian aggressors.
ROBERT A.
In addition to the renewed exuberance I
S KLAR
saw Friday night, there is a compelling need
Editor
for a special prayer for Israel.— tailored for
these threatening times — to become a
prominent part of every Shabbat service in America.
"Friday Night Fever," returning March 22, grew out of
Shaarey Zedek's active participation in Synagogue 2000, a
cooperative, inter-stream effort designed to win over the less-
involved- to the ritual, spirit and beauty of Shabbat and give
the more-involved another opportunity to have their syna-
gogue
0 o resonate for them.
The ultimate hope is to unite Jews everywhere, including
Israel, through the Divinely inspired energy of Shabbat, no
matter what their level of affiliation, participation or expecta-
tion.
Synagogue 2000, part of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit's community outreach, encourages con-
gregations to share the best of what they do spiritually to
engage their. membership.
Last Friday night, 450 people of all ages came together in
Shaarey Zedek's sanctuary to take a break from the week's
business affairs and everyday obligations,
which, as Rabbi Jonathan Berkun put it,
can be long and tiresome for our bodies
and spirits."
We had come to greet Shabbat "insane
with a love for God" so that our souls could
become bound up with God." Rabbi Lauren
Berkun further explained that Shabbat rep-
resents a celebration of our being wedded to,
and "lovesick" for, God. Her sage source was
none other than Maimonides, the Jewish
Rabbi Lauren
philosopher who wrote the Mishneh Torah, a
Berkun
cogent commentary on the Mishnah, which is
part of the Talmud.

"

Nourishment For The Soul

As Rabbi Jonathan Berkun had hoped, the evening proved a
great backdrop to "replenishing and refreshing our souls
through song, prayer, personal reflection and a sense of com-
munity."
The melodies, inspired by Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in
New York City and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, of blessed
memory, resonated for the members of the Shaarey Zedek
family who had gathered, partly out of curiosity and partly

out of a thirst for a richer, deeper Friday night service.
The Berkuns both were ordained last year at the New York
City-based JTS, where they had met, so they were familiar
with B'nai Jeshurun's exhilarating Friday nights.
In recounting the weekly Torah portion, Shabbat Tetzaveh,
Rabbi Lauren Berkun urged congregants to explore the inter-
play between "what we are on the outside and who we are on
the inside."
She described that Shabbat, the Shabbat before Purim,
which began at sundown Monday, as a day for "removing our
masks" and "returning to our core of who we are and what is
really important to us."
For me, her message was a wake-up call for deciding not
only who we are, but also who we ought to be — in the
grand scheme of things and in our relationship with Israel.
In its simplest state, Shabbat is a time to renew body and
mind, and to enjoy family and friends. It's a time to pray for
healing and to observe yahrtzeit (the anniversary of a death).
The ArtScroll Si ddur teaches that Shabbat "reaches its pinnacle
when all Jews not only perform God's will, but rejoice in it."
If ever a Shabbat had the potential to reach such a pinnacle,
this was it.

A Hearifelt Experience

Amid the singing and clapping, and the youthful rabbinic
exuberance of the Berkuns, both singers in their personal
lives, it became crystal clear that Shabbat's
most important melody is what Rabbi
Jonathan Berkun called "the wordless
melody, the melody from the heart."
That's when it hit me that melodies from
the heart are the building blocks — the real
shapers — of the "sense of community" he
had talked about earlier. I would hope that
Israel is part of that "sense of community"
for every Jew in the diaspora.
Rabbi Jonathan
Just prior to last week's service, Rabbi
Berkun
Jonathan Berkun perceptively captured
Shabbat's essence. "The Shabbat," he told
me, "is a blessed gift to the Jewish people, a sacred time dur-
ing which we nurture relationships and focus on the art of
simply 'being.'
"We should take advantage of the fact that this sacred time
is not only on Saturday, but begins at sundown Friday night.
Why wait until Shabbat morning to delight in the peace and
joy that the Shabbat brings to us?"
Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg of Congregation Shir Tikvah in
Troy had echoed similarly enriching sentiments after we wel-
comed Shabbat together at B'nai Jeshurun last year.
In explaining why his congregation already had adapted
some of the flavor of B'nai Jeshurun, he said at the time: "It
certainly stirs the vitality and touches the soul of a whole lot
of Jews searching for something to make Shabbat speak
directly to them."
Rabbi Jonathan Berkun hopes, as do I, that "Friday Night
Fever" and every other Synagogue 2000 initiative in metro
Detroit leave a lasting imprint on synagogue-goers — and,
at the very least, help us "become accustomed to remember-
ing, if only for the 25 hours of Shabbat, what is truly impor-
tant in our lives."
To me, and I hope to all American Jews, "what is truly
important in our lives" includes an undying commitment to
Israel through visits as well as economic, moral and spiritual
support. Fl

P cvA Svv\i&t.,_

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