AggIWAROAM*iw:,,,A
Jewish Men's Softball of Detroit, LLC
Is pleased to host the 25th Annual
International Jewish Men's
Slo-Pitch Tournament
this Labor Day weekend in West Bloomfield, MI
at both Drake Sports Park and Community Sports Park
We gratefully acknowledge the support
of our generous sponsors
.140'
DCG Wayne
Wheeler of
Data Consulting Group, Inc.
SF3 Gary Karp of
Sheiwood Food Distributors
Harold Grossbart of
Zalenko & Associates, PC
Ron Forman of
Vineyard's/Bread Basket Deli
Todd and George Gesund
John Shea of
Shamrock Inspections
of Super Car Wash
David Shea of Miller &
Shea, Attorneys at Law
Ely Tama of Tama, Budaj
Rick DePanicis of Paul
Dean Rottermond of
Cicchini Custom Clothiers
Rottermond Jewelers
Lyle Schaefer of
Century 21 Today
Butch Wingfield of
Russell Athletic
& Raab, CPAs, PC
Rick Sherline of Diversified Benefits
Rob Weinberger of Emery's Jewelers
John Stassinopoulos of Leo's Coney Island
jack Rubin of Rubin's Plumbing & Heating Co. Inc.
Steven Kaplan, Trustee of the Charter Township of W. Bloomfield
Mort Friedman of Mort Friedman Construction Co, Inc.
Harry Glanz of Capital Mortgage Funding Inc.
The Detroit Jewish News
Bob Friedman of Celebrity Placements
Daniel Rosenberg of Northwood Physicians, PC
David Grossman of Pegasus Theatrical
Ken Whiteman of Suburban Sports
Marc J Steingold, DDS
Ken Koroticin of Korotkin Insurance Group, Inc
Karl Schaefer of America's Stamp Stop
Marty Melton, International Athletic Chairman of B'nai B'rith
Steve Katz of The Bake Station
Marc and Carol Weberrnan
Jon Konigsberg of Easton Sporting Goods
Dave Nicholas of Sullivan-Schein Dental Supply
Norman Dagher of Patterson Dental Supply
Steven Oshinsky of S&S Online Auctions
Randy Golden of DOC Optical Centers
.John Sobeck of Chicken Shack
4'01 '
8/29
2003
58
The community is welcome free of charge to watch
the tournament.
Please visit our website at www.jewishmensslopitch.com
for the schedule of games.
Spirituality
Torah Portion
Justice Must Be Pursued
Within Society And Ourselves
political becomes psychological and
introspective in this incisive reading.
The entire sedrah (Torah portion)
of Shoftim is directed to external,
political affairs. It discusses judicial
procedure, priestly prerogatives, crite-
ria for authentic prophecy and limits
upon the king. This portion includes
rules regarding manslaughter and mur-
he great historian of Jewish
der, evidentiary standards, guidance
mysticism Gershom
for the conduct of warfare, and for the
Scholem argued that mod-
exercise of justice even in ambiguous
em Zionism signified the
situations.
re-entry of the Jewish people into his-
In other words, our por-
torical action following sev-
tion is tailored for a time
eral centuries of passivity.
when the Jewish people are
After the trauma of the
independent on their own
expulsion from Spain, the
land. Yet that situation has
people's messianic expecta-
been relatively rare in Jewish
tions soared, reaching an
history. What can the sedrah
apex in the 17th-century
teach us when we live in
furor over the false messiah
exile, or don't have the power
Shabbtai Zvi. Many Jews
to establish our own system
believed that the redemption
of government and justice?
was imminent, and some
For each of these _public,
RABBI
DANIEL
even abandoned- their homes
political rules we learn that
N
E
VINS
and headed for Israel::
there is an internal,..spiritual
Specia 1 to the
After their disillusionment
analog.
We must place judges
h
News
Jewis
over Zvi's apostasy, and after
on our minds, and -we shall
the fierce Chmielnicki .2
wage war against the evil
pogroms in 1648 underkored, their
inclination. The great drama of serv-
Jews directed
. .
ing God is internal as well as external.
their aspirations inward: Ekile (galut)
This is a profound and inspiring read-
came to be seen less as a: physical or
ing of our portion and of the Torah in
political condition than as spiritual
general. This perspective informed the
estrangement from God. Redemption
early Chasidic movement, which pro-
(geulah) was to be achieved in internal
vided an internal spiritual escape from
ecstatic attachment to God, rather
the oppressive political realities of
than in the physical return to
Eastern Europe.
Jerusalem. Until the advent of modern
Nevertheless, in our day God has
political Zionism reawakened the
returned the Jewish people to the
Jewish hope for return to Israel, Jewish
sphere of political action. We are
spirituality focused heavily on the pri-
blessed with an independent State of
vate, rather than on the public sector.
Israel and with rights as citizens in
A classic example of this shift is
America and other democracies.
found in the interpretation of the
Thus it is important to draw the
opening words of our portion. "Judges
Torah back into public life, to
and officers shall you place in all your
instruct, criticize and reformulate the
gates which Adonai your God gives
structure of society.
you for your tribes; and they shall
In our day, Shoftim is a resource for
judge the people with righteous judg-
determining whether a war is just and
ment." Normally, we read these words
whether the government is protecting
as a political imperative to establish_
the public and upholding the values of
law and order in our cities.
justice and righteousness. Justice must
But Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, best
be pursued — not only in the privacy
known for his Kabbalistic book Shnei
of our own institutions, but also in the
Luchot HaBrit ( The Two Tablets of the
public policy of our nations.
Covenant), which was first published
in 1649, saw it differently. "Your
gates" refers to your ears, eyes and
mouth. Exercise judgment at all of
these portals, he wrote, so that you
will look, listen and speak only in a
Does Judaism play a different
holy fashion. What initially seems
role for diaspora and Israeli Jews?
Why?
Shabbat Shoftim:
Deuteronomy 16:18-
21:9; Isaiah 51:12-
52:12.
T
❑
Conversations
Daniel Nevins is a spiritual leader at
Adat Shalom Synagogue.