Spirituality

BIRMINGHAM'S NEWEST ADDRESS

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A32 June 5 • 2008

JN

hen my brothers and I
were children, we listened
to a record of songs about
stories in the Tanach. Our favorite was
a song about Samson. We would sit
in our living room and belt out, "His
arms were big as melons.
His shoulders hard as
rocks. He killed a mighty
army with the jawbone of
an ox" (Actually, it was the
jawbone of something else,
but this was a children's
song).
As we sang these
words, we would flex our
muscles, and each, in his
turn, would pretend to
be Samson. In this week's
haftarah, we read the story
of Samson's birth. But
Samson is a very atypical
Jewish hero.
When we read the
story, we cannot help but
be struck at Samson's
inability to realize that
he is being used by
Delilah. He is deceived
by her not once, not
twice, but three times,
and is still not able to
realize that she should
not be trusted!
Many years ago, I
asked a Hebrew high
school class why the Bible would
choose a man who is seemingly so
gullible as a hero. One answer has
stayed with me. A young lady named
Dina responded, "Perhaps the Bible is
trying to teach us that anyone can be
a hero!'
If there is one message within our
tradition about heroism, that might
just be it — the incredible poten-
tial which lies within all of us to be
heroes.
After all, not one hero in the Tanach
is portrayed as a perfect person. Even
men as great as Moses or King David
are shown to have flaws. Their hero-
ism is not heroic because they are
flawless, but because they are able to
overcome their flaws and do what is
right.
Judaism does not ask us to be per-

fect, but it does ask that each of us be
a hero.
There are opportunities for heroics
all around us.
From the simple act of giving tzeda-
kah to being sensitive to those around
us who are in pain. As a
community, we see acts of
heroism everyday.
We should be proud of
such communal examples
as JARC, Yad Ezra, the
No Family Stands Alone
initiative and the many
other efforts that the
Detroit Jewish community
has to help those who
need aid.
But there is much more
that we can each do as
individuals. Here are four
suggestions — four simple
heroic acts to which we
can commit ourselves:
• Find a charity and
write a check.
• Commit ourselves
to at least one Sunday a
month to do volunteer
work.
• Find someone in
our community who is
lonely and spend time
with them.
•Add some extra
items to our grocery list
to donate to Yad Ezra.
These are not great actions. They
will not put us in record books or
make us go down in history. Probably
no one will remember that we did any
of these things.
But they are small steps to show
others — and ourselves — that every-
one can be a hero. Shabbat shalom.

Perhaps the
Bible is trying
to teach us
that anyone
can become a
hero.

❑

Daniel M. Wolpe is rabbi of Congregation
Beth Shalom in Oak Park.

Conversations
Who do you see as heroes in our
community?
What can you do that would be
heroic?