MAZEL TOV!

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Bloch-Samuels
S

heree and Wayne
Bloch of Bryn Mawr,
Pa., and Gayle and
Gary Samuels of Franklin
are thrilled to announce
that their children Alison
Joy Bloch and Seth Adam
Samuels were married
on April 9, 2022, in
Philadelphia at The Barnes
Foundation.

Rabbi Paul Yedwab,
the groom’s family rabbi
at Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield, and Cantor
Kevin Wartell, who co-of-
ficiated at the wedding of
the bride’s parents over 32 years ago, officiated.
Alison, 29, is a vice president of Integrated Media
Strategy at J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management.
Seth is a senior manager of Strategic Assortment
Programs at GoPuff.
Alison earned her B.A. in psychology from the
University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science
& the Arts; Seth earned his B.B.A. from the Ross School
of Business.

40 | AUGUST 11 • 2022

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SPIRIT

Imparting
Our Judaism
S

ome of my favorite
conversations with my
children happen in
the car. Buckled into
their car seats, looking
out the windows, they
ask the best questions.
Those car rides provide
me with opportunities
to hear what they are
wondering about or
answer their questions.
This week’s Torah
portion reminds us
of our responsibility
to teach our children,
to connect them with
their past, to link them
with previous genera-
tions, to our Jewish values and
our traditions.
In these chapters of
Deuteronomy, we first read
of Moses pleading with God
to let him into the Promised
Land. When God refuses his
request, Moses commands the
Israelites to pay attention and
to obey God’s laws so that they
are worthy of the land they
are about to receive. Moses
reminds the People of Israel
of the Ten Commandments
and the covenant they made at
Mount Sinai. And it is in this
Torah portion that the most
famous of our Jewish prayers
is found: Shema Yisrael.
Rabbi W
. Gunther Plaut,
author of The Torah: A Modern
Commentary, writes that the
Shema as a “precious gem …
a diamond set into a crown
of faith and proven true and
enduring in human history.
”
Our ancient scholars have
much to say about the mean-
ing of the Shema, but despite

their differing understanding,
they all agree that its message
is central to who we are as
Jews. That when we say,
“Shema Yisrael, Hear O
Israel,
” every Jew, regard-
less of time or space, is
reminded that they are a
part of this community,
with all the responsibili-
ties that come with it.
V’shinantam l’vanecha
— teach them to your
children.
In fact, many of those
responsibilities are list-
ed in these chapters of
Deuteronomy. The words
of the V’ahavta follow,
serving as a guidebook, an
instruction manual of how we
can practice Judaism. These
verses are a reminder that
we are commanded to teach
our children our rituals, our
traditions, our memories.
Commentator Pinchas Peli
explains that the V’ahavta is
not concerned with us teach-
ing our children simply by
passing on information, but
through the sincerity and pas-
sion of our personal example.
I will keep having car con-
versations with my children,
and I will keep imparting my
knowledge.
But I will also share my
passion for Judaism with my
children, inviting them to cel-
ebrate with me, to learn with
me and to keep asking their
questions, wondering about
the world.

Rabbi Arianna Gordon is the director

of education and lifelong learning at

Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi Ariana
Gordon

Parshat

Vetchanan:

Deuteronomy

3:23-7:11;

Isaiah

40:1-26.