PORTION

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The

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Out Of Darkness,
Comes Light

t
h
•nrAnnual
Walk
, A Israel

Shabbat Mevarekhim (Parshat
Shemini): Leviticus 9:1-11:47;
11 Samuel 6:1-7:17.

T

here is a great scene in the
movie My Favorite Year when
the Jewish lead character
tries to explain the Jewish people to
his friend. He says, "Jews know two
things: where to get great Chinese food
and suffering."
I found it fascinating and
a little sad that this charac-
ter associated Judaism with
suffering, and not the posi-
tive reasons to be Jewish;
but in some ways he was
on to something. We Jews
generally do not look for
suffering, but our responses
to it have sustained us and
made us a model for other
peoples going through their
own suffering.
One of the most difficult
questions to address is
whether suffering has any
value in and of itself, or is it our reac-
tion to suffering that creates mean-
ing? To a large extent this depends on
whether one is in the middle of a trag-
edy, or one has already experienced
it and is trying to rebuild one's life.
There are a number of sources in the
Talmud that confront this dilemma,
particularly in the Tractate Brachot.
According to the Talmud, God gave
the Jewish people three great gifts, but
only through affliction. Those gifts are
the Torah, the Land of Israel and the
World to Come. This is an attempt to
make something positive out of diffi-
culties that had already occurred.
Had God said to us before we
received these things that we would
suffer greatly, I am not sure what
our response would have been. This
becomes even more complicated in the
face of the Holocaust and the estab-
lishment of the State of Israel. Had you
told any Jews before 1930 that some
day we would have a state of our own,
but it would cost 6 million Jewish lives,
I do not think any one of us would
have accepted.
I would like to offer two ideas about

how to respond to tragedy. One is from
our Torah portion and the other from
a contemporary thinker, Rabbi David
Hartman.
The Torah tells the story of the sons
of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, who died
while making an offering in front
of the Tent of Meeting in
the wilderness. There is a
debate over why they died,
which is too long to get
into here; but the loss of
children under any circum-
stance is tragic.
Aaron was devastated
but, nonetheless, continued
in his responsibilities to the
people. It was these very
responsibilities toward oth-
ers that kept him going and
allowed him to live a mean-
ingful life. This did not take
away his pain, but made it
bearable.
Rabbi Hartman said that God did
not give the Land of Israel to the
Jews because of the Holocaust, but
rather that the Jewish response to
the Holocaust was to create a State of
Israel.
We showed the world that tragedy
couldn't break our souls. We showed
the world that a dignified and mean-
ingful life is possible under the worst
of conditions.
That is our great gift to the world. El_

Aaron Bergman is a rabbi at Adat Shalom

Synagogue in Farmington Hills.

Conversations

How can we meaningfully
address a tragedy in our lives
or in the life of someone else
and justify the need to go on
and make the most of the life
we have been given? Consider
tragedies on different levels and
discuss responses to each.

2 0 0 9

SAVE

THE DATE!

Sunday,
May 3rd 2009

Temple Shir Shalom

(3999 Walnut Lake Road,

the corner of Orchard Lake and Walnut Lake Road)

•

12:15 pm

•
•

1:00 pm
2:00 pm

Kosher Lunch (No Charge),
Israeli Music and Dancing
Walk Starts
Return to Temple

For more info contact

Mark Segel at (248) 208-2773 or
Andre Douville at (248) 737-8700

Co-Sponsors

Temple Shir Shalom
Stand With Us/Michigan
Hill& Day School
Anti-Defamation League
Michigan Friends of thelDF
National Council of Jewish Women
Jewish National Fund
Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

Hine! Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit
Frankel Jewish Academy
Congregation Beth Ahrn
Jewish Community Relations Council
Government of Israel Ministry of Tourism
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Young Israel of Southfield
The Ira Kaufman Chapei
News/ Talk 760 WJR
Michigan BIM
B'nai B'rith International- Great Lakes Region
Jewish institute for National Security Affairs
(JINSA)

Ad Design Courtesy of:

Jewish Community Center
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Manhigut Yehudit
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jbrooksdesign inc.
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Zionist Organization of America-
Michigan Region
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April 16 2009

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