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A Time
Of Joy
And Unity
•
2012
TONY AWARD°
arq
WINNER.
Shabbat Chol
HaMoed Sukkot:
BEST
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Exodus 33:12-34:26,
Numbers 29:26-3-31•
Ezekiel 38:18-39:16.
R
av Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev,
the 18th-century Chassidic
master known for his bound-
less love for every Jew, once told a well-
known Jewish apostate in his commu-
nity that he was very jealous of him.
The apostate was incred-
ulous. Could it be that the
saintly rabbi was jealous of
the non-kosher food he ate?
His Sabbath and holiday
violations? His hedonistic
lifestyle? What could the
saintly rabbi mean?
Rav Levi Yitzchok
explained the reason for his
jealousy. The Talmud states
that when one sins deliber-
ately, but then repents out
of fear of God, then God
"downgrades" the deliberate
sin to an unintentional or
accidental violation. However, if one
repents out of joy as a result of his love
of God, then God transforms the for-
mer sin into an actual mitzvah.
Thus, the Berditchever explained,
this sinner had the ability of earning
thousands of mitzvot instantaneously
by repenting out of love and converting
his sins to mitzvot. Is it a wonder that
he was jealous?
On Yom Kippur, we repent for our
misdeeds out of deep reverence for the
Sovereign of the Universe who entrust-
ed us with a pristine and beautiful
soul, which we have abused. We repent
through having a sense of shame for
letting Him down and wasting so much
of our God-given talents. And God
forgives us on Yom Kippur for any and
every misdeed that we committed dur-
ing the past year.
Then comes the holiday of Sukkot,
and we are filled with a sense of
gratitude and happiness. This feeling
of exultation leads us to perform His
commandments with great joy and is
the higher level of repentance that con-
verts the sins of the past into positive
mitzvot.
When we are joyous with this spiri-
tual simchah, we find ourselves feeling
more at ease (with ourselves and with
others) and possessed of a greater
feeling of expansiveness. It
becomes a lot easier to be
more tolerant and accepting
of others.
On Sukkot, Jews join
together in the sukkah to
celebrate the unity that is a
result of repentance through
joy.
This Sukkot, the first
Sukkot after the Sabbatical
year, is especially associated
with unity. The next-to-last
mitzvah in the Torah is
that when the Holy Temple
stood in Jerusalem, all Jews
— men, women and children — were
commanded to gather together in the
Temple once in seven years during the
Sukkot following a Sabbatical year and
celebrate as one people. This is known
as the mitzvah of Hak'hel, gathering.
Although the Holy Temple is no lon-
ger with us, and Moshiach has not yet
arrived to direct the rebuilding of the
third Temple, the Lubavitcher Rebbe,
of blessed memory, instructed his fol-
lowers to commemorate every Hak'hel
year by arranging as many gatherings
as possible where Jews can celebrate
their Judaism.
As the Rebbe explained, we all
have special Divine assistance during
this year to bring unity to the Jewish
people.
So come to services on Sukkot.
Shake a lulav and etrog with your fel-
low Jews. Join a sukkah party. It's an
especially special mitzvah this year! E
Detroit Opera House • Dec. 15-21
ticketmaster.com , 800-982-2787; Fisher Theatre & Opera House box offices.
Info: BroadwaylnDetroit.com , 313-872-1000.
C 1-1 12 V 5 L E 12
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Open-captioned performance 6:30PM Dec. 20.
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111
Ada
DR. JASON H. BODZIN AND RENEE ZUCKER
ertietia C51 c
SAVE THE DATE!
Sunday, November 8
at 7 pm.
Followed by an
afterglow reception
Open to the Community
A NIGHT OF BEAUTIFUL MUSIC
FEATURING
Cantor Earl G. Berris, Congregation B'nai Moshe
Charles Berris, Ritual Director - Congregation B'nai Moshe
Cantor David Propis, Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Assistant Cantor Leonard Gutman, Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Cantor Frank Lanzkron-Tamarazo
Cantor Pamela Schiffer, Congregation Shaarey Zedek, East Lansing
Cantor Penny Steyer, Congregation Shir Shalom
Cantor Dan Gross, Adat Shalom Synagogue
The Congregation B'nai Moshe Choir
The Cliff Monear Quartet, Cliff Monear, Pianist
will be performing and accompanying the singers.
Cliff
Monear
Frank
Lanzkron-
Tamarazo
B'NAI
Elimelech Silberberg is a rabbi at the
Sara & Morris Tugman Bais Chabad Torah
Center in West Bloomfield.
,"?-
12
rivir3
)
MOSHE
Dan
Gross
Pamela
Schiffer
Earl G.
Berris
Penny
Steyer
Charles
Berris
6800 Drake
West Bloomfield, IMi, 22
248-788-0600 • Bnaimoshe.org
FREE ADMISSION I f
e on
DETROIT
JEWISH NEWS
2036410
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October 1 • 2015
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