THEY DELIVERED THE PAPERS UNTIL THEY MADE THE HEADLINE portion 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 Groups (12+): Groups@BroadwaylnDetroit.com or 313-811-1132. ChryslerDealer.com Open-captioned performance 6:30PM Dec. 20. - BROADWAY. DETROIT SPONSORED BY ......,___,.....- _. ,.........- 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 JN October 1 • 2015 29