Torah Portion Fulfilling The Torah's Mitzvot Limits The Desire To Acquire coax out additional productivity. As much as any farmer might want to have the best of all crops, it was not allowed. Just as we must stop acquiring every seven days as we rest on Shabbat, so were we told to stop trying to better the land once every seven years. any of us spend much of Similarly, every 50th year was to be a our time acquiring Jubilee year. Again the people were not things. Homes, cars, elec- allowed to work the land. For two entire tronic devices, exotic years (the 49th Sabbatical year and the vacations and clothes are only a few of 50th Jubilee year, it was commanded the must-haves. that the land lay fallow. Imagine how From our earliest years, we are taught this might have affected the entrepre- by example and by the media that we , neurial farmer of old. Moreover the must acquire the newest and the best of Torah adds that during this Jubilee year, whatever is out there. It is hard to hold any land must be returned to back. We even see this drive to its original owner. acquire in the habits of young People could acquire the children. land of others for no more than This behavior is not new. 49 years. Why? People have wanted what they The Torah tells us that the do not have since ancient acquisition of "stuff" is not the times. The prohibition against inalienable right of human coveting is, after all, one of the beings. "But the land must not Ten Commandments.. In the be sold beyond reclaim, for the first few chapters of Genesis, land is Mine; you are but DR. MITCH Adam and Eve are already strangers resident with Me" PARKER grabbing for the fruit of the (Verse 23). - Special to the tree that is supposed to be In the succeeding verses, the beyond their reach. People Jewish News Torah outlines some of the seem to be naturally driven to details concerning returning " have more and to be more. property during the Jubilee year and One might even make the case that then adds that Jews sold into slavery for much of human history is a function of indebtedness must also be released at this this need. This lack of complacency can time. People cannot be exploited indefi- have an important place in our lives — nitely, whether they are willing slaves or but like many other drives, it must be not. "For they are My servants, whom I held in check. The desire to improve freed from the land of Egypt; they may one's lot should not be allowed to turn not give themselves over into servitude. into self-indulgence or worse, self-better- "You shall not rule over them ruthlessly; ment at the expense of others. you shall fear your God." (Verses 42-43) The Torah knows that simply telling Ben Zoma teaches us in the fourth us not to covet is not sufficient. This is a chapter of the Ethics of the Fathers, "Who hard commandment to obey. As a result is rich? One who rejoices in one's por- several other mitzvot were given to the tion." This is indeed a very difficult people of Israel to help balance the need maxim to carry out. It is so difficult that to acquire with the commandment to be when the Torah begins to outline the satisfied with one's own possessions. details of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years These mitzvot are delineated in Chapter in Verse 1, Moses reminds us that these 25 of Leviticus. rules concerning "stuff" were given on The chapter begins by telling us that Mount Sinai. These mitzvot were not every seven years, the land deserves its afterthoughts but part of God's original Sabbath. For an entire year, known as communication with Moses and the the Sabbatical year, the people of Israel Jewish people. ❑ were not allowed to work the land. They could eat what the land naturally pro- duced but they could not cultivate it to Shabbat Behar: Leviticus 25:1-26•2; Jeremiah 32:6-27. 111 Mitch Parker, Ph.D., is a psychologist in private practice and an instructor at the Florence Melton Adult Mini School. Discuss some of the ways "stuff" rules our lives and what we can do to shift this emphasis. Jewry's Role in Human Affairs AMONG MASTERS OF COMPOSITION - II Broadway and Hollywood may never again see the likes of the gifted Jewish composers of musicals whose names have blazed from the marquee and the screen. Some of the earlier greats were Kurt Weill who gave us The Three Penny Opera and Street Scene, and Richard Rodgers of Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The Sound of Music and The King and I fame. Frederick Loewe produced My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, while Harold Arlen scored magical music for The Wizard of Oz and A Star is Born. Others were Jule Styne who sired such masterworks as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Gypsy and Funny Girl, and Frank Loesser whose endearing Guys and Dolls and Most Happy Fella topped his ten major productions. Also included are Jerry Bock, the Broadway triple crown and Pulitzer Prize winner best known for Fiddler on the Roof, as well as Stephen Sondheim, the lyricist-composer in spirited form with A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd. SRO audiences have equally hailed: GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898-1937) b. Brooklyn, NY The opening bars of Rhapsody in Blue recall to most jazz and blues fanciers the genius of the composer who enriched the standards of popular music here and abroad. The songs of George Gershwin became much of the basis of jazz improvisation: a large body of work during a short lifespan that produced other instrumental classics like the Concerto in F and An American in Paris. One of the most talented and significant of all American composers began studying the piano at age twelve, and within four years launched his professional career as a Tin Pan Alley song plugger. Success came soon after when his tune, "Swanee," became a show-stopper sung by Al Jolson. Moving on to musical reviews and comedies, Gershwin's fame grew at scoring La La Lucille in 1919 and George White's Scandals. (1920- 24)--followed by such stage hits as Lady Be Good!, Strike Up the Band, Funny Face and Of Thee I Sing, a musical satire and first such production to win a Pulitzer Prize. His interest in larger-scale compositions with dominant rhythmic and melodic patterns derived from jazz was satisfied when commissioned by conductor Paul Whiteman to write his Rhapsody. Creating an American folk opera was yet another goal reached by the immensely popular Porgy and Bess, Gershwin's last major work before dying of a brain "tumor two years later. The lyrics of many of his most celebrated songs were written by his brother, Ira Gershwin (1896-1983). IRVING BERLIN (1888-1989) b. Mogilyov, Russia The most prolific songwriter in U.S. history laid a permanent foundation for popular American song. Rising from poverty on the sidewalks of New York, Berlin wrote more than 1,500 songs (lyrics as well) for thirty stage and seventeen film productions during better than a half century. The landmark "Alexander's Ragtime Band" sold more than two million copies by 1915 and propelled him to fame. "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" and "Easter Parade" enlarged that fame decades later. And "God Bless America," the patriotic song that singer Kate Smith urged him to write, became our country's unofficial national anthem, earning Berlin a special gold medal from President Eisenhower. The former singing waiter who never learned to read music composed most of his.works primarily on an upright piano's black keys-- with an outpouring of appealing tunes that helped shape the course of early American ragtime and jazz. What followed was almost legendary: songs contributed to several editions of the Ziegfeld Follies reviews; his first full score for Watch Your Step which introduced dancers Vernon and Irene Castle (1914); and The Cocoanuts, a 1924 musical comedy featuring the Marx Brothers. Berlin went on to write stage standards such as This Is the Army, Easter Parade, Annie Get Your Gun, Call Me Madam and Mr. President. His best known movies include Top Hat, Holiday Inn and While Christmas. Said Jerome Kern: "Berlin has no place in American music. He is American music." Saul Stadtmauer COMMISSION FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF JEWISH HISTORY Walter & Lea Field, Founders/Sponsors Irwin S. Field, Chairperson Harriet F. Siden, Chairperson Visit many more notable Jews at our website: www.dorledor.org 5/16 2003 59