Front Lines

NOTEBOOK

The Telling Of Kabbalah

Susan Tawil
Special to the Jewish News

I

t was an appropriate time for Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky to talk
about Kaballah. The rabbi spoke for the adult Jewish education
organization Ohr Somayach Detroit at the Max M. Fisher Jewish
Federation building in Bloomfield Township on May 28, just after the
holiday of Lag b'Omer.
Among other things, Lag b'Omer celebrates the
yartzheit (anniversary of death) of Rabbi Shimon
bar Yochai, the great Torah sage who revealed the
Zohar (the kabbalistic "Book of Spendor") immedi-
ately prior to his passing.
So what exactly is Kabbalah? Rabbi Orlofsky,
a senior lecturer at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem,
explained that the Torah has many levels of wis-
Rabbi Orlofsky dom. These levels are characterized by the acronym
PaRDeS, (Hebrew for "orchard"), which stands for:
•"P'shat," or simple explanation (although as the rabbi demon-
strated through his example of a quick retelling of the biblical story of
Joseph and his brothers, the "simple" explanation of the Torah is not
necessarily so simple!);
•"Remez," or hint (learning something from gematria, the numerical
values of the letters, or even from the letters themselves). For example,
Rabbi Orlofsky noted that the laws of building a sukkah can be learned
from the shapes of the Hebrew letters of the word "sukkah");
•"Drash," wherein something is learned from a reference to some-
thing similar appearing elsewhere in the Torah; and
•"Sod," or secret, the deepest level, which cannot be understood or
intuited without someone explaining it to you. This last is the level of

Kabbalah, which literally means "received" tradition since it was not
written down, but privately taught to deserving students.
Although the topic was a serious one, Rabbi Orlofsky drove home
his message in his highly entertaining, kibbitzy style that kept the
lunchtime crowd of 130 laughing while they learned.
"He has a phenomenal sense of humor;' said Sylvia Abramowitz of
Oak Park. He could speak to any group of people."
"He has brilliant comic timing:' said Paul Goldman of Sylvan Lake.
"At the same time, I had goose bumps from the power of what Rabbi
Orlofsky was saying."
According to the rabbi, anyone can understand Kabbalah: "All you
have to do is first master all of Tanach [Hebrew Bible] and its com-
mentaries, the entire Talmud and its commentaries, Shulchan Oruch
[basic and universal code of Jewish law] and its commentaries, etc:
he said wryly.
Still, he managed to teach his audience one "trick" of Kabbalah
in his talk. "What's the secret of the Torah?" the rabbi asked, then
answered, "Simple: Abracadabra!" He explained that this phrase is
actually two Hebrew words: A'bra K'dabra, or "I will create according
to My word!' The Torah teaches that everything in existence is the
result of the Almighty's "speech:' i.e., "God said: let there be light; and
there was light:' (Genesis 1:3).
In fact, said Rabbi Orlofsky, the Hebrew word dvar means both
"word" and "thing." "The power of words is the essence of Kabbalah,"
he said.
Likewise, he taught, we have the power to create (through prayer) or
destroy (through lashon hara, or gossip) with words.
In light of Shavout (June 9-10), the holiday of the Revelation at
Sinai, approaching, Rabbi Orlofsky implored the audience to use their
power to help change the world for good.

❑

ECO,,14 .1_Judaism

Conservation Tips

What you can do to stop global warming — Michigan Coalition
Coalition on the Environment & Jewish Life

Free Tickets For Youth
A generous donor has made it possible for B'nai B'rith to offer free tick-
ets to students age 18 and younger for the June 17 performance of the
internationally acclaimed Chai Folk Ensemble of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
"Celebrate Israel's 60th in Song and Dance" will be held 7:30
p.m., Tuesday, June 17, at the Performing Arts Center at Walled Lake
Northern High School, 6000 Bogie Lake Road, Commerce Township.
"The show is great for all ages and families will really enjoy it," says
concert chairman Rick Sherline of West Bloomfield, who has seen the
group of 32 singers, dancers and musicians perform. "The live music,
the dance, the costumes and the staging are all excellent!'
Balcony tickets will be provided free, or youth will receive a free
ticket to match whatever level ticket is purchased by an adult. Adult
ticket prices are $18 balcony, $36 main floor, $100 preferred seating.
The free youth tickets must be reserved in advance. Call the B'nai
B'rith Great Lakes office at (248) 646-3100 or purchase tickets at
www.detroit.planitjewish.com by clicking on June 17 and locating the
event and the RSVP link.
Patron $250 tickets include a pre-glow for Arline Bittker of Orchard
Lake, who will receive B'nai B'rith's Guardian of the Menorah Award.

- Keri Guten Cohen, story development editor

A8

June 12 2008

Spring and Summer
• Plant evergreen shrubs and trees on the north side of the
building to block cold winds. Plant leafy (deciduous) trees on
the southern and western sides of the building to block the
sun and to cool the building.
• Reduce lawn size and plant drought-tolerant native plants
and herbs.
• Dig up unneeded concrete and plant there.
• Restore native plants along streams and repair stream ero-
sion.
• Join a community garden.
• If fertilizing, use organic or slow-release fertilizer.
• Better yet ... reduce or eliminate the use of fertilizers. Use
organic compost instead.
• Reduce or eliminate the use of weed killers.

Contact MI-COEJL for a variety of resources and presenta-
tions on being guardians of Creation: (248) 642.5393, ext. 7;
mi-coejl®jfmd.org ; or www.mi-coejl.org .

Source: Michigan Coalition on the Environment & Jewish Life

Looking For Local
Soldiers

The JN is planning a story
on local Jewish men and
women serving in the U.S.
military. If you know of any
from Metro Detroit, we
would like to get in touch
with them and family mem-
bers living here. Just con-
tact Shelli Dorfman at (248)
351-5141 or e-mail sdorf-
man®thejewishnews.com .

Dienline

This Week

www.JNonline.us

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.
And look at the center of our
homepage for an Israel story
that changes twice daily.
Just visit JNonline.us and
click on a scrolling story on
the left.

Online Poll

This week's poll question:
Should Israel consider ceding
the Golan to Syria as a land-
for-peace bargaining chip?
Visit the JNonline.us
homepage, below the left
menu, to cast your vote.

Last week's poll results:
With gas prices now more
than $4 a gallon, do you plan
on taking a driving vacation
this summer?
Yes: 36%
No: 64%

