26 | JULY 29 • 2021 

MAZEL TOV!

JUNE 28, 2021 
Joshua and Michelle Pad of Berkley are 
thrilled to announce the birth of their son, 
Eli Raymond Pad. He is welcomed into the 
world by his grandparents Karen Pad, Robert 
Pad, and Alan and Judy Wormser. Great-
grandparents are Barbara Becker, Helen Pad Urnovitz, 
Henry and Sandra Wormser, and Ellen Ziff. They honor 
Eli’s late great-grandfathers Raymond Becker, William 
Pad, Ernest Weiss and Larry Ziff.

MAY 12, 2021
Michelle (Schwartz) and Baxter Trapp of Royal 
Oak are delighted to announce the birth 
of their daughter, Lilah Rehn. Lilah’s happy 
grandparents are Bill and Caroline Trapp 
of Farmington Hills, Alan and Kim Schwartz 
of Franklin, and Wendy Schwartz and Larry Bennett of 
Bloomfield Hills; overjoyed great-grandparents are Edie 
and Ed Broida of West Bloomfield, Rosemary Trapp of 
Novi, and Rosalie and George Schwartz of Farmington 
Hills.

APRIL 6, 2021
Ashley and Nathan Silverman announce the 
birth of Isla Jade Silverman (Yehudit Ayla). 
She is the sister of Eden, granddaughter 
of Karen and Irwin Danto, Lynn and Warren 
Silverman, great-granddaughter of Rita Foon, 
the late Edward Foon, Ruthye and Charles Danto, the 
late Evelyn Silverman, Dolores Brown and the late 
Hyman Brown. She is named after the late Isadore 
Silverman and the late Julius Danto.

MARCH 8, 2021
Devonie and Joel Danto announce the birth 
of Ezra Gordon Danto (Ezra Gabriel). He is 
the grandson of Karen and Irwin Danto of 
West Bloomfield, Lauren and Jack Royal- 
Gordon of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., 
great-grandson of Rita Foon, Ruthye and Charles Danto, 
Joan and the late Herb Royal. He was named after the 
late Edward Foon and Gordon family.

HOW TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mazel Tov! announcements are welcomed for members of the 
Jewish community. Anniversaries, engagements and weddings 
with a photo (preferably color) can appear at a cost of $18 
each. Births are $10. There is no charge for bar/bat mitzvahs 
or for special birthdays starting at the 90th.
For information, contact Editorial Assistant Sy Manello 
at smanello@thejewishnews.com or (248) 351-5147 for 
information or for a mailed or emailed copy of guidelines.

SPIRIT

Divine Covenant 
vs. Divine Contract
I

n this week’s portion, we 
encounter a shift in the cov-
enantal relationship between 
God and Israel.
Until this point, this rela-
tionship focused on the com-
mandments revealed 
at Mount Sinai. The 
commandments were 
unconditional: “thou 
shalt” or “thou shalt 
not.
” Prior to this, there 
is no conditional, “if 
... then” relationship 
between God and the 
People of Israel. 
This now changes. In 
a passage (that happens 
to be the second para-
graph of the Shema) 
we read: “... if you 
obey the commandments that I 
command you today” a series of 
rewards will ensue, mainly hav-
ing to do with rain. The Land 
of Israel relied almost entirely 
on sufficient annual rainfall for 
crops to grow and for the area to 
be habitable. A promise of rain 
is a promise of life. However, 
this promise has conditions 
attached. You get the rain and a 
good life if you obey the com-
mandments. If not, God will 
“close up the skies so that there 
will be no rain and the ground 
will not yield its produce, and 
you will soon perish.
” 
This shift from a covenant 
to a contractual arrangement 
reflects the maturing of the 
people. The men and women of 
this generation had experienced 
little or no autonomy and rarely 
made important decisions for 
themselves. They lived under 
the harsh rule of Egyptian task 
masters and then under the 
sheltering Divine aegis that took 
care of even their most elemen-

tal needs. They were no longer 
slaves, but wandering in the des-
ert prevented them from being 
free-thinking people. Much like 
a child moves unselfconsciously 
through a daily routine accord-
ing to the instructions of 
parents and teachers, they 
unreflectively followed a 
pillar of cloud by day and a 
pillar of fire by night. 
The task of conquering 
the Land of Canaan, howev-
er, demanded more human 
initiative and agency. This 
was no task for “children.
” 
Moses reiterated the com-
mandments as one instructs 
adults, placing a much larger 
premium on human action, 
decision and initiative. 
Talmud scholar Rabbi Adin 
Steinsaltz analogized the differ-
ence between life in the desert 
and life in the Land of Israel 
to life in the diaspora yeshivah 
world and life in the modern 
State of Israel. The former pro-
vided students’ daily necessities 
in a world that was largely 
homogenous, unchanging and 
sheltered. This, Steinsaltz argued, 
complicated efforts to transplant 
the yeshivah world of galut to 
the very different world of Israeli 
society, a dissonance that every 
Israeli government has had to 
confront and the current govern-
ment will have to confront now. 
This dissonance is not just 
a clash between religious and 
secular, rather between the two 
different and, at times, inher-
ently conflicting mentalities: the 
mentality of the desert and the 
mentality of building a life in 
Eretz Yisrael. 

Dr. Howard N. Lupovitch is director of 

WSU’s Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic 

Studies.

TORAH PORTION

Professor 
Howard 
Lupovitch

Parshat

Ekev: 

Deuteronomy

78:12-11:25; 

Isaiah

49:14-51;3.

