>> Torah portio DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD. It Doesn't Have To Cost A fortune... Only Look Like It! Complete kitchen and bathroom remodeling as well as furniture design and installations including granite, wood and other materials. Parshat Bo: Exodus 10:1-13:16; Jeremiah 46:13-46:28. W e know that significant the Jewish people near the end of his life numbers of Jews in Detroit that, instead of mediating between them are disconnected from the and God, he told God how terrible they organized Jewish community. True, were. "I am moved by zeal for the Lord:' there are many reasons for he said, "while the Israelites us in Detroit to feel proud of have forsaken Your covenant, ourselves — our relatively torn down Your altars and high level of synagogue affili- slaughtered Your prophets:' ation, our Federation's suc- With prophets like this, who cess in attracting new donors, needs enemies? Finally, Jeremiah exempli- our strong support of day school education — but even fied the type of prophet who as we congratulate ourselves balanced his allegiance to on our successes, we must both God and the people. also note our challenges and The book of Lamentations, Rabbi failures. traditionally attributed to Jonathan We have a growing number Jeremiah, accuses both sides Berger of families, young and old, of falling short: "We may whose connection to Judaism have rebelled and sinned:' and the Jewish community is tenuous at says the poet of Lamentations to God, best. Our synagogues have collectively "but You have not forgiven:' By seeing fewer members than they once did; our merit and fault on both sides, the proph- religious schools, day schools and youth et is able to fulfill his role of mediating groups are smaller than they used to between God and the people. be; and many other communal orga- And what happened to each of these nizations have shrunk as well. Some of prophets? Both Jonah and Elijah's this decline is due to emigration from careers came to an end after their flaws Detroit — but certainly not all. were exposed; one is not fit to be a And so, the biggest challenge faced by prophet, it seems, if one's loyalties are our synagogues and agencies today is too strongly tipped toward one side or this: How can we engage these individu- another. Jeremiah, on the other hand, als and these families in our communi- proved his worth, and God spoke to him ties while remaining true to our values again and again. and our missions? The key — as essential for lay-leaders, Our rabbis, in a wonderful midrash rabbis, and other professionals as it is on our parshah, offered some wonderful for prophets — is balance. If we find advice. There are three types of proph- ourselves constantly venting frustration ets, they say: one who favored Israel at at the unaffiliated, it might be time for the expense of God; one who favored us to find a new career — we cannot be God at the expense of Israel; and one leaders if we feel only contempt for our who balanced the two. Who were these population. If we abdicate our core mis- prophets, and what was their fate? sion just to attract the unaffiliated, doing Jonah, according to this midrash, anything just to get people in the door, favored Israel at the expense of God. we are abdicating our responsibility to Why, when God instructed him to travel our values. We cannot remain trapped in to Nineveh and call for repentance, did our present confines, but we also cannot he try to run away? Because he knew the simply "meet the people where they are" residents of Nineveh would immediately if it means forgetting who we are. Only change their evil behavior, and he feared through the hard work of finding com- that the Jewish people would look bad mon ground can we effectively reach out in comparison. So, say the rabbis, Jonah to those who, for now, are distant from flouted God's command in an attempt to the warmth of our community. ❑ help the Jewish people. Jonathan Berger is rabbi-in-residence at And who was the prophet who Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit in favored God at Israel's expense? It was Farmington Hills. 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