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 Keeping Kosher Meat and dairy products must be eaten and cooked separately to be kosher. Sponsored by Lubavitch Women's Organization. For information on keeping kosher or for help making your kitchen kosher; contact Miriam Amzalak at (248) 548-6771 or e-mail• miriamamzataki@juno.com 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 on page 59 1/27 2005 57