Spirituality
Torah Portion/Synagogues
Breathing The Torah
Shabbat Yitro:
Exodus 18:1-20:23;
Isaiah 6:1-7:6; 9:5-6
T
hree times a year, we read the
Ten Commandments: this week
in Yitro, again in late summer
when revelation is retold in Vaetchanan
(Deuteronomy 5) and between the two,
when we celebrate the festival of
Shavuot. No other single scene from
Torah is read so often; and, yet, the
more one reads of the giving of Torah at
Sinai, the more confusing the story
becomes.
In the middle of Exodus (Chapter
19), the people are gathered at the foot
of the mountain, waiting for the great
event. The ground shakes; the heavens
are filled with thunder and lightening
while God, in a thick cloud, descends
upon Sinai. God summons Moses to
the summit and then right away tells
him to go back down to warn the peo-
Joseph A. Klein is rabbi of Temple
Emanu-El.
Adonai Elohecha, "I am the Adonai Your
pie back. So Moses goes back down and
God." Why is it that revelation begins
speaks to the crowd. Thus Chapter 19
with the letter aleph — a silent letter?
ends, as the section we call the Ten
Rabbi Larry Kushner teaches that the
Commandments begins!
aleph is "almost silent" for it is the
Is Moses up on the mountain to hear
almost-sound of a word about to be
them, to receive them — no! He is
said. At Sinai, when the people heard
down with the people until he goes
the aleph, they knew that God and the
back up at the end of the Ten
Jewish people were about to
Commandments. Apparently,
have a conversation.
God was all alone on the
Perhaps all of Torah can be
mountain at the time — at
found
in the almost-silence of
least that's what the text seems
the
letter
aleph. Perhaps all of
to say. So what exactly was
Torah can be reduced to the
given on Sinai and to whom?
silence which precedes our
Rabbinic tradition affirms that
conversation with God. What
the entire five books of the
then does it matter whether
Torah were given to Moses at
God gave Moses just 10
Sinai, a belief for which there
mitzvot on Sinai or the 613
is no justification in the writ-
RABBI JOSEPH mitzvot of the complete five
ten text. The more widely held
KL EIN
books? The entirety of revela-
assumption that it was specifi-
Specia
to the
tion is only the beginning of
cally the two tablets of the Ten
Jewis h News
our personal, private conver-
Commandments which God
sation with God.
delivered to Moses is also not
Each of us holds Torah on the edge
substantiated by the text. The 'Ten' are
of
our
breath, brought up from our
given, but there was no one up there to
innermost
parts. Some of us seem to
receive them!
know Torah early in our lives; and we
The riddle of revelation extends even
breathe, speak and sing it in a multitude
to its first letter. The text begins Anochi
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CONSERVATIVE
ADAT SHALOM SYNAGOGUE
29901 Middlebelt, Farmington Hills, 48334, (248) 851-
5100. Rabbis: Daniel Nevins, Herbert Yoskowitz, Rachel
Lawson Shere. Rabbi emeritus: Efry Spectre. Cantor:
Yevsey Gutman. Cantor emeritus: Larry Vieder.
Services: Friday 5:30 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m., 5:30 p.m.;
weekdays 7:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m.; Sunday 8:30 a.m. Bar
mitzvah of Joshua Schostak, son of Lillian and Mark
Schostak.
AHAVAS ISRAEL (GRAND RAPIDS)
2727 Michigan St. SE, Grand Rapids, 49506-1297,
(616) 949-2840. Rabbi: David J.B. Krishef. Cantor:
Stuart R. Rapaport. Services: Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, 7:30 a.m.; Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 9:30
a.m.
BEIT KODESH
Cantor emeritus: Sholom Kalib. President: Dr. Harold
Steinman. Services: Saturday 9:30 a.m., 6 p.m.; week-
days 7:30 a.m., 6 p.m.; Sunday and legal holidays 8
a.m., 6 p.m. Ivriah religious school (810) 732-6312.
BETH ISRAEL (ANN ARBOR)
CONGREGATION
2000 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor, 48104, (734) 665-
9897. Rabbi: Robert Dobrusin. Services: Friday 6 p.m.;
Saturday 9:30 a.m.; weekdays 7:30 p.m.; Sunday 5
p.m.
CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM
14601 W. Lincoln, Oak Park, 48237, (248) 547-7970.
Rabbi: David A. Nelson. Cantor: Samuel L. Greenbaum.
Ritual director: Rev. Samuel Semp. Services: Friday 6
p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m., 5:30 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m., 5
p.m.; weekdays 7 a.m., 6:30 p.m. New Member
Shabbat.
31840 W. Seven Mile, Livonia, (248) 477-8974. Cantor:
David Gutman. President: Larry Stein. Vice presidents:
Martin Diskin, Al Gittleman. Services: Friday 8 p.m.;
Saturday 9 a.m.
BETH TEPHILATH MOSES
CONGREGATION BETH AHM
CONGREGATION B'NAI MOSHE
5075 W. Maple, West Bloomfield, 48322, (248) 851-
6880. Ritual director: Joseph Mermelstein. Rabbi
emeritus: A. Irving Schnipper. Cantor Emeritus: Shabtai
Ackerman. Guest rabbi: Aaron Bergman. Visiting schol-
ar: Dr. Howard Lupovitch. Services: Friday 6 p.m.;
Saturday 9:30 a.m., 5:15 p.m.; weekdays 7 a.m., 7
p.m.; Sundays and civic holidays: 8:15 a.m., 5 p.m.
BETH ISRAEL (FLINT)
G-5240 Calkins Road, Flint, 48532, (810) 732-6310.
146 South Ave., Mt. Clemens, 48043, (586) 465-0641.
Services: weekdays 7:15 a.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.;
Sunday 8 a.m.
6800 Drake, West Bloomfield, 48322, (248) 788-0600.
Rabbi: Elliot Pachter. Cantor: Earl Berris. Services:
Friday 5 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m., 5 p.m.; Monday-Friday
7 a.m., Monday-Thursday 6 p.m.; Sunday and legal
holidays 9 a.m.; Sunday 5 p.m. He -torah, Martin Price.
DOR CHADASH
-
U. OF MICH.
U-M Hillel; 1429 Hill St., Ann Arbor 48104, (734) 769-
0500. Rabbi: Jason A. Miller. Co-chairs: Naomi Karp,
Perry Teicher. Egalitarian Carlebach-style service 5:30
p.m. Fridays. Monthly Shabbat morning service.
Monthly Shabbat Minchah-Seudah Shlishit. Check Web
site for times www.umhillel.org
ISAAC AGREE DOWNTOWN
SYNAGOGUE
1457 Griswold, Detroit, 48226, (313) 961-9328.
Chazan: Cantor Usher Adler. Baal Kriah: Howard
Marcus. Cantorial soloist: Neil Barris. Ritual director:
Dr. Martin Herman. President: Dr. Ellen Kahn. Services:
Saturday 8:30 a.m.
CONGREGATION SHAAREY ZEDEK
Rabbis: Joseph H. Krakoff, Jonathan E. Berkun, Eric S.
Yanoff. Rabbi emeritus: Irwin Groner. Cantor: Chaim
Najman. Ritual director: Leonard Gutman.
Southfield: 27375 Bell Road, Southfield, 48034, (248)
357-5544. Services: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 7:30
a.m.; Monday, Thursday 7:15 a.m.; daily 5 p.m.; Friday
5:30 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m., 5:15 p.m.; Sunday 8:30
a.m. Bar mitzvah of Jacob Morris Potoff, son of Helene
and Jeffrey Potoff. Havdalah bat mitzvah of Brittany
Gonte, daughter of Sonia and Sheldon Gonte.
West Bloomfield, B'nai Israel Center: 4200 Walnut
Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48323-2772, (248) 357-
5544. Services: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 7:15 a.m.;
Monday, Thursday 7 a.m.; daily 6 p.m.; Friday 6 p.m.;
Saturday 9 a.m., 5:15 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m.
TEMPLE ISRAEL
2300 Center Ave., Bay City, 48708; (989) 893-7811.
Cantor: Daniel Gale. President: Dr. Jonathan Abramson.
Services: Saturday 9:30 a.m. A liberal, egalitarian con-
gregation serving the tri-cities area. Religious and
Hebrew education programs for children and adults.
INDEPENDENT
AHAVAT SHALOM
413 N. Division St., Traverse City, 49684, (231) 929-
4330. Rabbi: Chava (Stacie) Bahle. Weekly Shabbat cel-
ebrations, holidays, year round programming, children's
education. Summer programming for downstate visitors.
of ways. Some of us never quite find it,
unsure of where it is hidden — or hav-
ing identified it, have difficulty breath-
ing it into our lives. On the edge of our
breath, Torah is the soul of the Jew — a
precious gift from God, the gift of life,
the breath of being.
Though God's Torah transcends our
understanding or comprehension, it is
symbolically represented by the Torah
Scroll. The Sefer Torah, the physical
presence of a metaphysical covenant, is a
symbol and a reminder in human lan-
guage of that which is beyond language.
The Sefer Torah is our people's response
to God, the beginning of our conversa-
tion. It is the opening through which
we may touch the Divine, the place
from which our search for spirituality
must begin. El
Conversations
Why is it so important that revela-
tion be an ongoing, and not static
gift? In how many ways is our
covenant with God a conversation?
GROSSE POINTE JEWISH
COUNCIL
(313) 882-6700. Rabbi: Nicholas Behrmann. Cantorial
soloist: Bryant Frank.
JEWBILATI ON
P.O. Box 130014, Ann Arbor, 48103, (734) 996-3524 or
995-1963. Rev. Lauren Zinn. Services: Friday 6:15, fol-
lowing dinner. Jewish Roots with Interfaith Wings holds
bi-monthly Shabbat dinner, services, kids' programs,
family school and Hebrew school for all ages.
ORTHODOX
AGUDAS YISROEL MOGEN
ABRAHAM
15751 W. Lincoln, Southfield, 48075, (248) 552-1971.
Rabbis: Dov Loketch, Asher Eisenberger. President:
Irwin Cohen.
ANN ARBOR CHABAD HOUSE
715 Hill St., Ann Arbor, 48104, (734) 995-3276. Rabbi:
Aharon Goldstein. Services: Friday at sundown;
Saturday 9:45 a.m., 20 min. before sundown; week-
days 7:30 a.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. Times for weekdays
and Sunday are for the academic year.
ANN ARBOR ORTHODOX MINYAN
1429 Hill St., Ann Arbor, 48014. Rabbi: Rod Glogower.
Services: Friday at sundown; Saturday 9:30 a.m. and
20 minutes before sundown; weekdays during the
academic year 7:30 a.m.; Sunday 9 a.m.
BATS CHABAD OF FARMINGTON
HILLS
32000 Middlebelt, Farmington Hills, 48334, (248) 855-
2910. Rabbi: Chaim Bergstein. Services: Friday sun-
down; Saturday 9:30 a.m.; Sunday 8:30 a.m.; week-
days 6:50 a.m.
BATS CHABAD OF NORTH OAK
PARK
15401 W. 10 Mile, Oak Park, 48237, (248) 872-8878.
SYNAGOGUE LISTINGS
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2005
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