Con5reSation 13 *liai Davit, Spirituality Torah Portion Celebrate the entire Holiday Season with us . Pre-Holiday Selichot Concert and Sing-along with Cantor Pen Zion Lavixner and his Guitar August 31, 2002 at 9:30 p*. at the fladassah House Refreshments served after the Concert followed by &Robot Services at 11:00 p.m. To Clean House, Spiritually, Consider Junking The TV - J ROSH HASHANA ... September 7 and 8 YOM KIPPUR . September 15 and 16 Tickets are only $100 ($50 for ages 18-25) Free for children 17 and under with an adult. Books Provided. iv For Tickets, Call the Synagogue Office — 248-855-5007 SUKKOI HOLIDAYS Saturday and Sunday, Sept 21 and 9:00 ant. Shentitil Atzeret and Sintehat Torah Saturday and Sunday, Sept as and 19 9:00 am. Wizkor will be recited on September zsi - . . . and after you've enjoyed the holidays, stay for rest of the year! Join us. every week for our Shabbat services where there is a comfortable level of participation and no one is an anonymous face in the crowd A Trabitional Stinagosme with a Mobern Davy Approach Servins the Metropolitan Detroit Area Since 1$92 FOR RENT Spacious Apartments on the Ocean(s) This unique resort community features 2- and 3-bedroom residences with full kitchens, and 88 luxurious suites for rent. All resort facilities, and worldwide itineraries. Daily Residence rates from $1,400. Daily Suite rates from $800. For further information, contact Rochelle Lieberman at GATEWAY TRAVEL (248) 432-8600 or email: rochelle@gatewaytryl.com www.gatewaytrvl.com Conversations THE WORLD of Residensea® 646360 Buy direct 40% off itTN 8/23 2002 74 248-358-7655 Order to your exact specifications American Express • Visa • Master Card to make the right choice we had to remove the impediment to our suc- cess. Sometimes we have to "clean house," and give ourselves the chance to succeed. This week's portion introduces a Halachah (Jewish law) called viduy mdaser —.the confession of the e finally. did it. After a tithe. The Torah demands that every trip east this summer, third year, after a Jew has given all Rena (my wife) looked the tithes required of him, he must at me and said, "You recite the following: "I have know, I really think that we should removed the holy things from my throw out the antenna." I agreed, and we did. And life went on. house, and I have also given it to the Many Orthodox Jews Levite, to the convert, to won't bring a television into the orphan and the widow, their homes. I'm not one of according to how you have them. As a modern commanded me. I have Orthodox Jew, I believe not transgressed any com- that Judaism demands that mandments and I have not we make difficult choices in forgotten ..." life, and that no medium is Why does the Torah inherently kosher or treif: require us not only to give It's all about how we choose the tithes, but then to to use that medium. recite a confession declar- The telephone has the ing that we have done RABBI exactly that? power to save lives — liter- REUVEN ally, by bringing emergency God understands human SPOLTER ervices to the sick, help to nature. Of course, we want Special to the t he needy and families liv- to give the tithes, but it Jewish News ng far apart closer together. can become so easy to for- But, we can also use the get — to put the money aside and forget about it (like those telephone for destructive, harmful bar mitzvah gifts we all keep mean- purposes as well. Before Alexander ing to give) — that every three years Graham Bell, if I wanted to slander we must stop, take stock and remove my friend, I could only slander him those things in our home that don't locally. Now, thanks to telephones, I belong. can instantly slander him across the globe. So, we must not only give the tithes, but also recite the confession, The same rule applies to televi- sion. TV programming, by and to ensure that we have assessed the situation and can confidently declare large, is really, really bad. There's no that the things in our home truly other way to say it. The sexual belong there. depravity, wanton violence and I'd love to elaborate — but there's immorality that we pipe into our a baseball game on that I really want homes spiritually affect us and our children. to see ... maybe I'll come watcTh it at your house. ❑ Then again, according to my own logic, the fact that I find the vast, overwhelming majority of program- ming spiritually destructive shouldn't make the entire medium of televi- sion treif. What about the news, the Discovery channel, and the occa- Okay, I'm not ready to give up sional Andrea Bocelli concert on my TV just yet; but, what can I PBS? Why did we throw out the antenna? bring in or remove from my home to give myself a better We threw it away because we chance at spiritual success? The realized that instead of us making portion relates the mitzvah of choices about television, the TV was bikkurim — the bringing of making choices for us. It was too first fruits to the Temple in easy to plop down in front of the Jerusalem. What mitzvah do we TV and waste the next two hours do that dedicates our best to away. So, we decided that in order God in that way? Shabbat Ki Tavo: Deuteronomy 26:1- 29:8; Isaiah 60:1-22. KnollStudio Reuven Spatter is rabbi of Young Israel of Oak Park.