spirit

torah portion

30 Y E A

RS

Institute for Retired Professionals

PRESENTS

The Farber Family Folk Fest, featuring

Diamonds in the Rust

with Jim Bizer, Jan Krist, Annie & Rod Capps

+ Come sing along with your favorite songs from the ’60s and ’70s! +

Our Goals Shape Us

Y

Parshat Haazinu:
Deuteronomy 32:1-
52; (Shabbat Shuva)
Hosea 14:2-10,
Micah 7:18-20,
Joel 2:15-27.

ou may view the land from
a distance, but you shall not
enter it — the land that I am
giving to the Israelite people.” —
Deuteronomy 32:52
At the end of this week’s Torah por-
tion, we find God instructing Moses
to ascend a mountain so that he may
look out upon the Promised Land
from a distance before his death.
Moses, whom the Torah describes
as our ultimate prophet, who helped
lead us out of slavery in Egypt and
led us through the desert
for 40 years to the edge of
If you knew ahead of time
the Promised Land, was not
that you would be unable
going to be permitted to
to finish a particular task,
enter.
would you do as much of it
I can only imagine the
as you could, as Moses did,
sense of frustration and
or would you resign yourself
disappointment that Moses
to defeat and give up?
must have been feeling in
Our tradition makes clear
that moment. To have come Rabbi Dan
that like Moses, we are
so close to attaining your
meant to embrace the work
Horwitz
ultimate goal and then to
itself, and that even if we
not be able to see it through
aren’t sure if we’ll be able
could be nothing short of
to reach our ultimate goals,
maddening. I would have
that we still need to try.
been angry. I would likely have acted
We learn in the Mishnah, in the
out. I would have viewed myself as a section dealing with the Ethics of Our
failure. I certainly would have ques-
Ancestors: “It is not upon you to com-
tioned God’s decision.
plete the work, but neither are you
We’ve all experienced disappoint-
free to desist from it.” — Avot 2:21
ment and setbacks in our lives in
While having end goals is impor-
some form or another. Part of life is
tant, the reality is that it is not the
that you can’t always get what you
end that is truly transformative, but
want. How do we deal with disap-
rather the work you do to try to get
pointment? What is it to work really there.
hard for something and then to
Set lofty goals. Work hard toward
come up just short?
them. Recognize that we all face dis-
British poet Alexander Pope once
appointment during our lives. Know
wrote: “Blessed is he who expects
that through your hard work, even
nothing, for he shall never be disap-
if you don’t end up reaching what-
pointed.”
ever your particular end goal might
What are our expectations for our be, you will be changed, and you
lives? Assuming we’re even remotely will have meaningfully changed the
ambitious, Pope would argue that
world around you. •
we’re primed to be disappointed
at some point or another. The key,
Dan Horwitz is the rabbi and founding director
however, is to not let the potential
of The Well, a pluralistic Jewish community
building, education and spirituality outreach
for disappointment keep you from
initiative.
acting in the first place.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017 Ɇ 7:30 p.m.

Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit

D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building, Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus

6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322

$10 ($5 for IRP members) Includes refreshments

For information and reservations: irp@jccdet.org or 248.432.5406

Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

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Development
Coordinator

The Kadima Development
Coordinator is a new full-time position that will support the
Development Director in all development, outreach and special event
activitiesof the agency.

Responsibilities

 Assist with planning special events which will include working with
committees, creating minutes and coordinating
logistics with vendors, community partners and volunteers
 Coordinate Kadima’s presence at community events as vendor or partner
 Manage all development administrative activities, including maintaining
the donor database, entering weekly donation entries, creating tribute
acknowledgements and other tasks
 Support development and execution of new Kadima Gift Registry
Program (be point of contact, monitor donations,
follow up with donors)
 Maintain Kadima’s social media presence and update blogs
 All other duties as designated by the Development Director

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 Bachelors Degree
 (TPUPT\TVMVUL`LHYL_WLYPLUJLPUKL]LSVWTLU[VMÄJLWVZP[PVU
 Excellent interpersonal, verbal and communication skills
 7YVÄJPLUJ`PU4PJYVZVM[>VYK,_JLSHUKKVUVYKH[HIHZLZ
 Ability to present information concisely and effectively, both verbally and
in writing
 Ability to organize and prioritize work
 Ability to work independently with little supervision, as well as work as
part of a team

Reports to: Development Director

Submit your resume and cover letter to Pat Johnson at
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September 21 • 2017

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