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UTERI

COMMURM MEM 2POR20 RE

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A BER CAL ASS 31B- YIW

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

36

January t 2 2007

PORTIO

Revelation

Shabbat Shemot:
Exodus 1:1-6:1;
Isaiah 27:6-28:13; 29:22-23.

T

his week we
a direct revelation that
begin reading
Moshe was a true proph-
Exodus. A new
et. From this we see that
king rises over Egypt
our belief in Moses is not
and does not remember
based on the miracles of
Joseph, who had saved
the 10 plagues, but rather
Egypt from famine.
on the direct revelation
The entire book deals
that took place at Mount
with the redemption of
Sinai.
the Jewish people, cul-
Any later prophet is
minating in the national
Rabbi Michael
only to be accepted if
revelation at Mount Sinai
Co hen
he follows the Torah of
when the entire popula-
Specia I to the
Moshe and encourages
tion of the Jewish people
Jewis h News
others to follow it.
heard God speak directly
In this way, Judaism
to them (Exodus: Ch. 20,
differs from every other
verse 19).
religion. Whereas every other reli-
One of the foundations of our
gion is based upon the "revelation"
belief and the first of the Ten
or "vision" of one person, Judaism is
Commandments is that God redeemed based on the revelation at Sinai that
us from the bondage of Egypt.
was experienced by an entire nation
Many people believe in God. One
at once. We only believe in Moshe
just has to observe the complex design because God spoke directly to the
of the world and its components
Jewish people, telling them to believe
to appreciate that there is a creator.
in Moshe.
However, in Exodus we are confronted
I believe that it is for this reason
with another aspect of Godliness.
that each year we sit together with
The first of the Ten Commandments our families at the Passover seder to
is to know that it was God who freed
review these fundamental components
us from Egypt. This commandment
of Judaism.
is that we recognize that God is con-
stantly involved with the world.
Michael Cohen is rabbi of Keter Torah
With each one of the 10 plagues,
Synagogue in West Bloomfield.
God demonstrated His control over
a different part of creation. It begins
with the water of the Nile being
Conversations
changed to blood and ends with the
Could a prophet tell the Jewish
death of the first-born children of the
people to change the Torah for
Egyptian people. Each plague served
any reason? What are the 13
not only as a punishment of the
basic principals of the Jewish
Egyptians for persecuting the Jewish
faith?
people, but also as a lesson that God
did not withdraw from our world after
creating it
Connected to this is another
important foundation. We are told
A Sephardic Legacy
(Deuteronomy: Ch.13 verse 2) that
Keter Torah Synagogue in West
we are not to believe in a prophet
Bloomfield will host a lecture series
merely because he performs a miracle. with Professor Howard Lupovitch
With that principal in mind, Moshe
7 p.m. Sundays, Jan. 14 and Feb. 4.
questioned how the Jewish people
The title of the series is "Moreshet
would know that God really sent him?
Sepharad — The History and Legacy
Maimonedes explains God's
of Sepahrdic Jews."
response. The Jewish people would
Admission is free; a donation would
not have any justifiable proof until
be appreciated. Sephardic desserts and
they heard God Himself tell them with coffee will follow each lecture.

