Torah portion Sunday, September 22 2:00 PM OPEN HOUSE AND PROG Dedication of THE VIOLA AND GARRY KAPPY Yom Kittpur Inspiration Shabbat Yom Kippur: Leviticus 16:1- 16:34, Numbers 29:7-29:11; Isaiah 57:14- 58:14; Minchah: Leviticus 18:1-18:30. T his thought is based on the Yom Kippur Torah portion Acharey, which includes Leviticus 16:21: "Aharon shall lean his two hands ... and confess upon it the iniquities of the Children of Israel." Yankele Ganev (Yankele the Thief) sat in shul on Yom Kippur with all the other Jews of his village. This year, the rabbi gave a particularly fiery speech on teshuvah (repentence), and Yankele was especially moved. Shortly after Yom Kippur was over, there was a knock on the door of the rabbi's study. Yankele Ganev stood there with two bulging sacks. "Rabbi, you really inspired me today. I've decided to return all these things that I have stolen from my good neigh- bors. Will you give them back for me?" He started pulling out the items from the sacks. "These are Zelde's candle- sticks, and this is Chaim's hat. This rake belongs to Yossel; the wallet is Shmelke's." And so on. The rabbi agreed, and Yankele left. A short while later, the rabbi reached into his pocket for his gold watch to see what time it was. No watch. He looked all over and then came to the obvious conclusion. Down the street, he knocked on Yankele's door. "Yankele, did you by any chance happen to see my gold watch?" Yankele turned 20 different colors, reached into his pocket and pulled out the rabbi's watch. "I don't understand you, Yankele. You were just inspired to do such a beautiful teshuvah! Why did you take my watch?" "Rabbi, you don't understand. Inspiration is inspiration, but business is business:' Sins Of Omission There is a widespread custom to (gen- tly) beat our chests during the confes- sion (the Al Chet), which is recited fre- quently during the Yom Kippur service. This conveys the message that teshuvah requires a broken heart. Just saying "I'm sorry, and I won't do it again" is not enough. The confession must be accompanied with a feeling of pain and a commitment not to repeat Anne Frank's tree, as she would have viewed it from her hiding place the inappropriate behavior. Many believe that the focus of peni- tence is on sins of negative behavior, such as dishonesty, hurting others, slan- der, promiscuity, arrogance, etc. Even though Torah has many positive commandments, we don't consider the failure to perform these mitzvot to be so grave as to require a broken heart. The truth is otherwise. Rav Shneur Zalman, the first rebbe of Chabad, declares that desisting from positive mitzvos is just as serious as engaging in negative actions. Not controlling our impulses and giving in to temptation, greed or other character flaws is a transgression; refraining from helping another is negligence. God endows each of us with a unique set of talents and capabilities, and we are expected to fully utilize them. ■ kosher refreshments This program is made possible in part by a grant fiv Michigan Humanities Council an affiliate cf the Nationa 1Endowment for the Humanities. of West Bloomfield. 248.553.2400 www. h 0 oca ustcenter.orz o DENNIS MILLER SoundBoardDetroit.com OCTOBER 3 SOUND BOARD. ❑ Morris Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center Special interview with Irene Butter, a survivor who knew Anne Frank ■ Free admission all day ■ Appropriate for families ■ Complimentary Finding A Mate One area that needs special attention is helping young Jewish adults find their mates. This is increasingly difficult for Jewish singles, and especially for young women. This is partially a result of the increasing number of intermar- riages (that have unfortunately become accepted in some Jewish circles), which depletes the pool of Jewish adults avail- able for marriage. Moreover, we live in a society where marriage and having a family are no longer priorities. Interestingly, in the time of the Talmud, young Jewish men and women met on Yom Kippur with the ultimate goal of marriage. This Yom Kippur, let us ask ourselves what we have done to try to help Jewish singles find Jewish spouses. May God grant that we not only be inspired this Yom Kippur, but also that our inspiration leads to real and mean- ingful changes as well ... Not just a return to business as usual. And may we merit to hear the sound of the great shofar that will signal the arrival of the holy redeemer who will lead us all to the Land of Israel. Elimelech Silberberg is a rabbi at Sara & oin us as we dedicate the Holocaust Memorial Center's newest exhibit, which includes a sapling from the chestnut tree that grew behind Anne Frank's hiding place. This living exhibition highlights the extraordinary life of Anne Frank and celebrates her legacy of hope. h ticketmaster - CAS/iY0 -HOTEL „^,f. 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