To Life! TORAH POP, ION The Generation Gap Shabbat Vayehi: Genesis 47:28-50:26; I Kings 2:1-12. I u c s or es', Unique & Unusual Gifts Always 30% Off most m 6644 Orchard Lake Road at Maple West Bloon fie x 55.1600 I\ UDMMUM77 MEM 2 A 3D CAL ASS 11 IL SO RE 13U AN HOMOSEXUALITY AND JEWISH LAW THURSDAY JANUARY 18, 2007 7:30 PM Adat Shalom Synagogue 29901 Middlebelt Road Farmington Hills, MI 48334 Please plan to be with us for an informative evening as Rabbi Daniel Nevins, member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, will describe the process and substance of the most recent Law Committee vote, Co sponsored by: ADAT SHALOM - BETH AHM BETH SHALOM B'NAI MOSHE SHAAREY ZEDEK JEWISH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Rabbi Daniel Nevins has been Rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue since 1994. He serves on the Executive Council of the Rabbinical Assembly and is on its Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. 1199400 34 January 4 2007 n this week's Torah and his sons were raised portion, we are told of in the environment and the last days of the life culture of Egypt. What rela- of our patriarch Jacob. He is tionship did they have with now 147 years old, having Jacob, the foreigner, the lived the last 17 years in exile shepherd (an abomination in Egypt. to the Egyptians (43:32 and We are told (Genesis 46:34)? 47:29): "And he called to his It is quite possible that Rabbi Eliezer son, to Joseph ..." to instruct indeed Joseph and espe- Cohen him about his burial. And cially his sons, Menashe Special to later (48:1) the Torah says: and Efraim, were somewhat the Jewish "... And he told Joseph, alienated from Jacob. If so, News `Behold your father is ill'." how poignant are Jacob's It is possible to infer from words (48:5): "And now these verses that Joseph, possibly still your two sons, born to you in the an important official in Pharaoh's Land of Egypt before I came to you court, did not regularly visit his old to Egypt, they are mine: Efraim and and ailing father. Menashe will be to me like Reuven Similarly, when the verse (48:8) and Shimon." says: "And Jacob saw the sons of Then comes the following verse Joseph and said: Who are they?'" it (48:7), a reference to the death and may indicate that he didn't recognize burial of his (Jacob's) wife and their his own grandsons because they so grandmother, Rachel. This at first rarely visited their grandfather. seems a complete non sequitur, but How sad that all too often the chil- is really the symbol of the eventual dren and grandchildren are "so busy" return "home" and reconciliation of with their own lives that the love and the future generations with their roots. concern (not to mention the financial This is reflected in the prophetic sacrifices) that their parents lavished verses of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:14- upon them are not reciprocated even 17), describing the ultimate return of in a considerably more limited way in the Jewish people to their land and their twilight years. heritage: Certainly the care of "the old man" Thus said the Lord: "A voice was may be difficult and a real hassle and heard in Ramah, lamentation and bit- even emotionally painful, but how ter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her tragic for the elderly, not only not to children, refusing to be comforted for be respected or appreciated, but, in her children, because they are not." fact, to be ignored. Thus says the Lord: "Refrain Certainly in our times, it is not your voice from weeping, and your unusual for those of different genera- eyes from tears, for your work will tions to be distant from one another be rewarded:' says the Lord. "Your if not actually alienated. And certainly children will return to their own bor- the generations that came from "the ders." 11 old country" quite frequently had strained relationships with their Eliezer Cohen is rabbi of Congregation "American" offspring. Or Chadash in Oak Park. Not only was there a generational disparity, but also differences in cul- Conversations ture, language and attitude toward Is it normal for friction to devel- religion; the children and grandchil- op between children and their dren were quite literally embarrassed parents in order for the children by their "old country" relatives. to become independent? How Here too, in Egypt, Joseph had been can this alienation be mitigated? an exalted official; his wife was the What can we learn in this regard daughter of the Priest of Oan (41:45), from our Torah portion?