TARNOW KNOWS DOORS To Life! THE BEST GARAGE, ENTRY AND STORM DOORS YOU CAN BUY! AH PORT N THEY WELCOME You HOME SINCE 1966 Visit our warehouse showroom: 23701 Halsted Road TARNOW DOORS Farmington Hills, MI 48335 GARAGE • ENTRANCE • STORM DOORS Call us toll free: (888) 577-7276 Visit our Website! www.tarnowdoor.com SALES...INSTALLATION...PARTS & SERVICE VT-', i , IN EvERs MERCEDES-BENZ*AUDI.PORSCHE ti 5570 Monroe Street • Sylvania, OH • 419-824-2514 e(l/SCOPer ib;) a lteltS J )J cJCLrr. D (Ivor Sole, tan Sauter d Porc h, Pa r cho Burger, • , i\A eci al I the of Boot', MONDAY — FRIDAY BUY ONE DINNER GET THE 2ND DINNER FOR HALF OFF exp. 7/31/07 4t Club 150 West Congress Detroi 313-965-497 •bscot Buitclin The real reason to 90 is for the 'cupcakes." Style magazine, Oct. 6th Ve6.40.re LOVeS PErEECT Far: • Baby or Wedding Shower • Bar/Bat Mitzvahs • Birthday Parties • Corporate Events 1344 J cupcake .yet a second cupcake Ot€ No special orders. Exp. 7/31/07 Open 7 days a week www.cupcakestati6n.coni 136 N. Old W66dward eirminghani 248-S93-1903 how do you get your news? Access the news, events and opinions important to this community check us out @ JNonline.us 32 July 5 • 2007 Optional Service? Shabbat Pinchat: Numbers 25:10-30:1; Jeremiah 1:1-2:3. I n the Talmud we find a question: As Maimonides puts it in his Why do we recite the Amidah Mishneh Torah, saying the evening three times a day? Amidah "is the custom of all Jews in One opinion holds that each one of every place that they dwell, and they the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and have accepted it upon themselves as Jacob) established one Amidah. The though it were an obligatory prayer." other opinion says that reciting the The Talmud's discussion gives the Amidah three times each day is paral- Jewish people a clear excuse not to say lel to the daily sacrifices that the Amidah a third time. were brought to the Temple Nevertheless, the Jewish in Jerusalem. people decided to take on Parashat Pinchat is the the evening Amidah as a place to look if you want permanent obligation for to know the details for the several reasons. daily sacrifices as well as First, we often hear the those for Shabbat and festi- phrase, "It is just a custom:' vals. When you look in the The word "just" serves to Rabbi Steven parshah, however, you will undercut the seriousness Rube nstein find that the Torah speaks and importance of custom. Specia I to the of two, not three, daily offer- However, Jewish tradition Jewis h News ings — one in the morning understands custom to be a and one in the afternoon. So, strong force in the life of a how did we end up saying the Amidah community. It is so strong that Jewish three times a day if they were estab- sources often say, minhag yisrael k'din lished because of the daily sacrifices? hu, loosely translated as "The custom The Talmud says that although there of Israel has the force of law" wasn't an independent sacrifice in the Many customs are part of the fabric evening, the Amidah that we say at of our communities and dismissing night is actually parallel to the burn- them lightly affects the foundation of ing of the sacrificial remains of the that community. two daily sacrifices on the altar. Perhaps even more importantly, this Even more interesting is an opin- issue speaks to the attitude we should ion found later in the Talmud which take in our relationship with God. suggests that the evening Amidah is When given the opportunity to con- nect with God, take it. Don't look for optional. (For those of you who don't like davening in the evening, don't get an excuse. too excited.) Perhaps this designation The opportunity to speak to God of the evening Amidah as optional is is a gift, given to us three times a day related to the fact that the Torah only just as the psalmist wrote, "Evening, talks about two daily offerings. morning and afternoon do I pray, I plead and He will hear my voice." I I So should we say the Amidah twice a day or three times? For me, the fas- cinating part of this debate is not the Steven Rubenstein is the rabbi of Congregation Beth Ahm in West final answer but the way Jewish tradi- tion figures out the issue and how we Bloomfield. explain the decision to ourselves. In practical terms, it is clear that Jewish law says that we should say the Amidah three times a day. Though Conversations the talmudic debate leaves us with What longstanding customs the understanding that the evening does your family have that are Amidah is not obligatory to the same now not "just a custom"? What degree as the morning and afternoon aspects of Jewish life make you Amidah, Jewish law tells us that the feel particularly connected to evening Amidah is optional no longer. God? Why?