Spirituality

TORAH PORTION

Mind-Body Connection

Bais Chabad unveils a kitchen that inspires.

From The Depths
To The Heights

Parshat Vayeshev: Genesis 37:1-
40:23; Amos 2:6-3:8.

Ann Arbor

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The shiny new kitchen is ready for use.

Roche! Burstyn
Special to the Jewish News

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trings of flowers cascaded delicate-
ly from the ceiling and the tables
were adorned with lotus petals
and candles. The center table was especially
enticing, with an assortment of salads and
desserts. Music played softly and pictures
of scenery flashed on the wall.
We were at Bais Chabad of North Oak
Park on Oct. 17 — an evening dedicated to
the body and the soul, the spiritual and the
mundane. This was a big night for us — our
shul kitchen was finally complete and was
going to be unveiled. Everyone was excited
to see the physical fruits of many people's
labors.
Once we were relaxed and pampered
by different volunteer spa treatments, we
listened comfortably to heartwarming
speeches.
Hadassah Werner spoke about Rabbi
Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, the Chabad
emissaries in Mumbai, India, who were
murdered in their Chabad house by ter-
rorists almost two years ago and in whose
memory the new kitchen is dedicated. The
couple were well known for their warmth,
devotion and giving. It is the hope that their
legacy of giving and kindness will live on in
our new shul kitchen.
Marcy Forta introduced her aunt, Fran
Rogers, who made the up-and-running
shul kitchen her personal goal in honor
of the Holtzbergs. Rogers talked about the
kitchen before (it didn't even have a sink!)
and thanked the people who contributed
funds towards making the dream of a good
shul kitchen a reality. She talked about the
importance of maintenance and then cut the
ribbon, unveiling the brand new kitchen.
After we'd finished oohing and aahing

There was no shortage of treats at the

kitchen dedication.

over the new appliances and tile sand sink,
Werner announced that an anonymous donor,
inspired by Fran Rogers and all her hard work,
had decided to donate in her honor another
$5,000 towards maintenance of the kitchen
and whatever appliances it still required.
Lastly, Ita Leah Cohen, rebbitzen of the
Bloomfield-Birmingham Chai Center, took
to the podium. She regaled us with anec-
dotes from Chumash, which highlighted the
importance of taking care of our physical
bodies in order to succeed in our spiritual
lives.

❑

Event organizers were Hadassah
Werner and Feiga Bowick. To
contribute to the ongoing project of
the Bais Chabad of North Oak Park
kitchen, call (248) 872-8878.

omewhere between Canaan
and Egypt, there was a pit. It
was just a hole in the ground
but it took on great importance in
our people's history.
Joseph's brothers threw
him into the pit instead
of killing him as they first
planned. When a caravan
of Ishmaelites came by,
the brothers took him out
of the pit and sold him
into slavery.
The Ishmaelites
brought Joseph down to
Egypt, and thus began our
people's journey, which
culminated in the Exodus.
Parashat Vayeshev
describes the story about
the pit in great detail and tells it
with an extraordinary amount of
pathos and sadness. So we might
expect. After all, what could possibly
be positive about such a terrible
story?
After years of separation, the
brothers reunite with Joseph, and
their father Jacob is brought down
to Egypt to see his favorite son once
again and to settle there. Jacob dies
in Egypt and Joseph and the broth-
ers fulfill their promise to Jacob and
bring his body for burial in Canaan.
There is a beautiful midrash told
about their trip back to Egypt. The
story is told that as they passed
the pit into which Joseph had been
thrown, Joseph separated himself
from his brothers and walked over
to the pit to look down. He shook
his head as he looked into the empty
hole.
The brothers responded with fear.
They surmised that Joseph planned
to avenge their actions against
him. But, according to the Midrash,
Joseph had no such intention.
In fact, says the Midrash, Joseph
walked over to the pit not to express
anger or sadness but to thank God
for having brought him out of the
pit and brought his family back

together. He stood and shook his
head in deep appreciation to God
for all the kindness that had been
shown him, knowing that all that
he had was due to the good fortune
which came upon him in Egypt.
I love that story and am
amazed that the Midrash
would tell it in this way.
Joseph, who for so many
years had been immature,
childish and selfish, had,
through the passage of
time, developed a maturi-
ty and a sense of humility
that we rarely show in our
own lives. He was able to
look at all he had gained
from the difficult times in
his life and, perhaps, was
even able to realize that
he was at least partly to
blame for his brothers' anger at him
by virtue of his arrogance.
There are difficult situations that
we face that we can't feel good about
no matter how many "good lessons"
we learn. But how blessed are we
when we can look back at a difficult
situation that we have faced and be
grateful for having been saved from
it and for having learned important
lessons along the way.

❑

Robert Dobrusin is rabbi of Beth Israel

Congregation in Ann Arbor.

Conversations

Think of a situation in which
you took the "high road," not
seeking revenge against those
who hurt you but showing
appreciation for the lessons you
learned along the way.
Is there any one place that
you think of, which was the
site of a type of "watershed
moment" that the pit was for
Joseph? What have you learned
from that place?

November 25 = 2010

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