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.