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The Sun And The Moon
T
his Week
he Jewish calendar in relation to Passover, and slavery in
Egypt as sensitivity training were the subjects of Rabbi
Mordechai Becher on March 26 at an Ohr Somayach Detroit
lunch-and-learn at Franklin Athletic Club in Southfield.
The seder contains many references to correcting the flaw of broth-
erly hatred, the rabbi said. Joseph was sold by his brothers to mer-
chants traveling to Egypt. The brothers took Joseph's coat, dipped it
into goat's blood and brought it home to their father, Jacob, explaining
that Joseph was killed by a wild animal.
The Hebrew word for Joseph's special coat is related to the word
karpas, the vegetable at the seder, which is dipped into salt water,
symbolic of Jacob's tears. The ensuing years of slavery in Egypt forged
within the Jewish people a sense of caring and compassion for their
brethren, resulting in God's miraculous salvation.
Nisan, the Hebrew month in which Pesach falls, was the time God
appointed for the redemption. In the Torah, Nisan is considered the
first month of the year and is imbued with an inherent spiritual
energy of renewal.
The Hebrew calendar, the rabbi said, is adjusted to ensure that
Passover always occurs in the spring.
The significance of a lunar calendar, Rabbi Becher said, is that it is
rooted in change. The sun is static, but the moon waxes and wanes;
it changes and renews itself each month. Cultures
based on the solar calendar were ruled by determin-
ism; Judaism, with the lunar calendar, is based on
free will.
"There's nothing new under the sun:' Rabbi
Becher quoted from Kohelet (Ecclesiastes). "Under
the sun;' he said, means the physical world, a place
where our souls cannot be satisfied, since physical
pleasures are never lasting. However, "above the sun"
Rabbi Becher
is newness. This, said Rabbi Becher, refers to the
spiritual world (Torah learning, mitzvah performance, prayer, etc.),
the place where our souls find satisfaction.
Audience member Dave Rubens of West Bloomfield liked Rabbi
Becher's explanation of the Passover ritual of karpas, which he
planned to share with his children at the seder.
Paul Goldman of Sylvan Lake said he gets recharged at the Ohr
Somayach luncheons. "I liked how Rabbi Becher explained the rela-
tionship of time with the seasons, how Jews can use their free will to
live above time, to go beyond the everyday world of the sun;' he said.
"It's a fresh way of thinking:'
Hermelin Heads ORT
Relatives of Harry Houdini are seeking New
York court permission to exhume his body.
They want to learn, once and for all, if the
great magician who died in Detroit in 1926
was poisoned or died of natural causes.
Rumors about his death — on Halloween
— are legion. Some say jealous spiritualists
poisoned him with arsenic. Other reports
claim he was punched in the stomach
when he wasn't prepared for the blow and
died of peritonitis (a claim doctors refute).
Newspaper reports say Houdini, born Eric
Weiss, had complained of stomach pains for
Harry Houdini
some time before his Detroit appearance.
For a time, he refused to go to the hospi-
tal, but finally agreed to go to Grace Hospital in Detroit, where he was
treated by Dr. Daniel Cohn.
New York Life Insurance Co. questioned whether a punch could
have led to Houdini's death. The Detroit physicians testified that this
was "the first case of undoubted traumatic appendicitis" they had ever
seen and Houdini's widow, Bess, was awarded double indemnity.
Houdini is buried in Machpelah Cemetery in Flushing, Queens, N.Y.
Bess, a Catholic, was not permitted to be buried there when she died.
To this day, Houdini followers visit his grave on Oct. 31, waiting for
his return from the dead.
- Susan Tawil, special writer
Disappearing Act
Longtime ORT activist Doreen Hermelin of Bingham Farms will be
installed as first president of ORT America, the newly merged organi-
zation of Women's American ORT and American ORT.
ORT America's inaugural convention will take place April 22-24 in
Washington. Richard Goldstone, former president
of World ORT, best known for his work on human
rights issues and as the author of articles on inter-
national humanitarian law, will install Hermelin,
who with her late husband, David, helped solidify
the foundation of ORT through their steadfast sup-
port.
Convention speakers will include U.S. Sen. Carl
Levin,
D-Detroit, and Noam Nuesner, former
Doreen
speechwriter
for President George W. Bush and a
Hermelin
former Detroit Jewish News intern.
- Robert A. Sklar, editor
The Elusive Hall
Detroit Pistons majority owner William Davidson, one of 15 finalists,
won't be one of the seven new inductees into the Basketball Hall of
Fame in Springfield, Mass., come Sept. 7. The announcement came
Monday. The Pistons won NBA titles in 1988 and 1989 during the Bad
Boys era under Coach Chuck Daly and in 2004 during the tumultuous
reign of Larry Brown.
Davidson, 84, of Bloomfield Hills, owns the Auburn Hills-based
Guardian Industries and Palace Sports & Entertainment. He also owns
the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League and the Detroit
Shock in the Women's Professional Basketball Association. In addition,
he is a mega-philanthropist in both the Jewish and secular worlds.
Davidson, who keeps a low profile as far as major team owners
go, is known as an innovator in and ambassador for professional
sports. His service includes the chairmanship of the NBA Board of
Governors. He has helped make the sports arena an experience, not
just a place to watch a game. He also has helped the NBA bring its fis-
cal house in order in an era of salary caps and free agency.
- Robert A. Sklar, editor
- Alan Hitsky, associate editor
Cap & Gown
The annual Jewish News recogni-
tion of top high school seniors will
be published May 24. Any Jewish
senior in Michigan with a 3.50 or
higher grade point average can
receive a free listing in the Cap &
Gown section.
For complete information, go to JNonline.us and click on the
Cap & Gown button in the top right corner of the home page.
www.JNOnline.us
Web Exclusive:
More On Darfur
Today's cover story is a
special report on Sudanese
refugees being held in Israel,
awaiting a United Nations
decision about their fate. To
see the rest of the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency series,
you only have to go to
JNonline.us.
Just click on the cover story
in the upper left corner on
the homepage.
Passover & Food
Here's your chance to share
your favorite Passover reci-
pes with the rest of us. We're
looking for recipes from soup
(matzah ball, of course!) to
dessert. It's easy to share.
Just fill in the comments info
at the bottom of the story.
We've added a few recipes
just to get you started!
Only at JNonline.us . Just
click on Web Extra on the
menu on the left.
Latest From Israel
Want the most current
news from Israel? Check
our streaming news from
Ynetnews.com for continu-
ous updates and longer news,
opinion and feature stories.
Just visit JNonline.us and
click on a scrolling story on
the left.
Results from last week's
poll:
Did you change to Passover
dishes and sell your chametz
this year?
Yes 40%
No 60%
This week's poll question:
Do you support President
Bush's aggressive approach
to containing Iran's nuclear
capability?
Visit the JNonline.us
homepage to cast your vote.
April 5 • 2007
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