6 - THE BULLETIN — Thursday. August 17,1989
Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.
Candlelighting
Fourth Commandment, Exodus, 20:8
Friday, August 18,8:05 p.m. Sedra Ekev Havdala Shabbat ends
August 19, 8:55 p.m.
Friday, August 25,7:51 p.m. Sedra Reeli Havdala Shabbat ends
August 26, 8:40 p.m.
Beth Hamidrash Congregation. 3231 Heather street. Rabbi David Bassous, assistant Rabbi Yaakov Benza-quen. Morning Minyan daily 7 a.m. Shabbat, Sunday and public holidays 9 a.m. Evening Minyan Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Shabbat at Candle-lighting time. (Seuda Sheli-shit) 872-4222 or 872-1201. (Sephardic Orthodox).
•* * *
Beth Israel. 4350 Oak. Rabbi W. Solomon; Rabbi Ronnie Cahana; Cantor M. Nixon; Torah reader, D. Rubin; Choir, S. Pelman. Fri. 8:15 p.m.; Sat. 9:15 a.m.; Sun. 9 a.m.; daily 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. 731-4161. (Conservative).
* * *
Beth Tikvah. 9711 Geal Rd., Richmond. Rabbi Martin Cohen. Torah reader, Jason Schwartz, Fri. 8 p.m.; Sat. 9:30 a.m. 271-6262 (Conservative).
* * *
Chabad-Lubavitch. 5750 Oak. Rabbi Y. Wineberg. Fri. sunset: Sat. 10 a.m.; Sun. 9 a.m. and sunset; daily 7 a.m. and sunset. 266-1313. (Chassidic).
Eitz Chaim. 8080 Francis, Richmond. Rabbi A. Feigel-stock, daily minyan 7 a.m.; Fri., 8 p.m. with Shabbat class after candlelighting. Sat., 9 a.m. with youth minyan every shabbat. Evening service 8 p.m. Sunday, 9 a.m. followed by breakfast. 275-0007. (Orthodox).
Emanuel. 1461 Blanshard, Victoria. Rabbi V. Reinstein. Sat. 9:30 a.m. 382-0615 (Conservative).
* ♦ *
Har EI. North Shore Jewish Community Centre, 1735 Inglewood, West Van., Rabbi I. Balla, cantorial leader Robert Edel, Fri. 8 p.m.,every other Saturday, 10 a.m. 922-8245 or 922-9133 (Conservative).
* * *
Louis Brier Home. 1055 W. 41st Ave. Fri. 6:30 p.m. Sat. 9:15 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Daily 4:30 p.m. C. Kornfeld, D. Kornfeld, Moe Frumkin, R. Rosenberg. 261-9376 (Orthodox).
[Belaitiyes an^ Friends are advised that the
UNVEILiNG OF HEADSTONE
in loving memory of the Sate
will take place Sunday, Aug. 20 at 11:00 a.m.
at the
Schara Tzedeck Cemetery
Rabbi P. Bregman will officiate
[Relatives and Friends!
iaavi^d (Hit iiiW
HEADSTONE
in loving memory of the late
GLADYS JAMPOLSKY
will take place Sunday, Aug. 27 at 11:00 a.m.
at the
Schara Tzedeck Cemetery
Rabbi S. Strauss will officiate
iRelatives and Friends are advised that the
UNVEItlNG OF HEADSTONE
in loving memory of the late
will take place Sunday, Aug. 20 at 11:00 a.m.
at the
Tzedeck] Cemetery
M. Feuerstein will officiate
The Community is advised that the
UNVEILIN6 OF HEADSTONE
in loving memory of the late
will take place Sunday, Aug. 27 at 11:00 a.m. at the
Rabbi W. Solomon Rabbi R. Cahana and David Rubin will officiate
Or Shalom meets at 4764 Quebec St. Services are held the third Friday of each month at 6:30 p.m. followed by dairy potluck and each Saturday at 10 a.m. 872-1614 (Traditional Egalitarian).
Schara Tzedeck. 3476 Oak, Rabbi M. Feuerstein; Rabbi Shmuel Strauss; Torah reader Rev. Joseph Marciano. Fri. sunset; Sat. 9 a.m. and sunset (Seuda Shlishit), children's service 10 a.ni.; Sun. 8:30 a.m. and sunset. Weekdays 7:30 a.m. and sunset. 736-7607. (Orthodox).
Temple Sholom. 7190 Oak St. Rabbi P. Bregman; Cantorial Soloist M. Breitman; morning minyans Sun. 9:30 a.m., Mon. and Weds. 7:15 a.m. Services Fri. 8:15 p.m.. Sat. 10:30 a.m. 266-7190 (Reform).
The words "Bless the L-rd, O my soul" (Psalm 103:104) were said five times by David with reference both to G-d and the soul. As G-d fills the whole world, so does the soul fill the whole body; as G-d sees and is not seen, so with the soul; as G-d nourishes the whole world, so does the soul nourish the whole body; as G-d is pure, so also is the soul pure; as G-d dwelleth in secret, so does the soul. Therefore let him who possesses these five properties praise Him to whom these five attributes belong.
Berakot, 10a.
mm
JEWISH CALENDAR
5749 -1989
Rosh Chodesh Aug. 31 Rosh Chodesh Sept. 1
Erev Rosh Hashana Sept. 29
5750 - 1989 Rosh Hashana
Fast of Gedliah Erev Yom Kippur Yom Kippur Erev Succot Succot
Sept. 30 - Oct. 1 Oct. 2 Oct. 8 Oct. 9 Oct. 13 Oct. 14-15
Erev Shmini Atzeret Oct. 20 Shmini Atzeret Oct. 21 Simchat Torah Oct. 22
HIrsch, theatre director, dies
Compiled from Dispatches
A reckless.
an otherwise drab society, wore "his Jewishness and European refugee origins like a banner," Globe and Mail
dramatists, tjie onetime dean ^^^^^'^ ^"^^^ Conlogue rerriembered li^r^^at a*Br^'"' ^^^^ipaa^im^^,
TORONTO
flamboyant, iconoclastic — but never dull — giant among
service.
John Hirsch, 59, who died in a Toronto hospital Aug. 2, was artistic director of the Stratford Festival from 1981 to 1985. A shaker of convention rather than a stickler to tradition, he returned to Stratford with a vengeance; a dozen years earlier, he had resigned rather than face the music over an adaptation of Petronius's Satyrioon that featured actors in various stages of undress.
Hirsch, who once described himself as an "exotic bird" in
Relatives and Friends are advised that the
UNVEILING OF HEADSTONE
in loving memory of the late
will take place Sunday, Aug. 27 at 11:30 a.m. at the
Beth Israel
Rabbi W. Solomon land Rabbi R. Cahanaf will officiate
middle-class Jewish family in Hungary, he received his early education there.
When the Second World War broke out, he and his grandfather left Siofok for the Budapest ghetto, where he survived during the Holocaust. His mother and younger brother died in Auschwitz; his father was shot in Germany.
After the war, Hirsch was sent to Germany, where he wrote and staged a puppet play for fellow refugees — his first theatrical piece.
Later, in a refugee camp near Paris, he was to go to Israel to work on a kibbutz. Finally, Canada was suggested, and he chose Winnipeg.
He arrived there in 1947, eventually studying at the University of Manitoba. Soon, he co-founded the Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg's first professional and Canada's first regional theatre. The late Nathan Cohen, a Toronto Star critic, called it the best theatre in Canada.
From 1974 to 1978, he was the CBC's head of television drama, producing such shows as King of Kensington, starring Al Waxman.
Many theatre devotees gave him credit for saving Stratford when its survival was endangered.
A friend said Hirsch died of cryptococcal meningitis, a complication of AIDS.
J.B. MewalB
Hebrew Inscriptions Our Specialty
Established 1909 , Personal attention paid to ALLORDERS Fraser and 35th 327-1312
— DEATHS —
VILMOS KALLA Aug.?
As another flu/ZeWn community service feature, Deaths will be published weel<ly as they are registered.—THE PUBLISHER.
RISKIN
EKEV - FEARDOM VS. FREEDOM
EFR AT, Israel — THERE ARE THOSE who look upon the sheer number of Torah commandments and statutes as a.hardship, an obstacle course filled with religio-legal traps and loopholes.
Ironically, both the devoutly orthodox and devoutly distant share this perception, and although their religious responses radically differ, what they have in common is the belief that it's hard to be a Jew ("es iz shver tzu zien a Yid"). The devoutly orthodox embrace the challenge, the extra burdens, while the devoutly distant reject a system that dares set constraints simply because of an accident of birth.
For me, a Judaism that sees itself as primarily a hardship has swerved from its original intention, and I find evidence for this in a verse in this week's portion, Ekev.
"A nd now Israel, what does G-d want of you, only to fear G-d, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, serving the L-rd your G-d with all your soul, to keep G-d*s commandments and statues that I command you today, for your good." (Deut. 10:12-13)
By bridging the first words — ''And now Israel, what does G-d want from you, but to fear G-d"{\ia. the steps in between), with the final words".. .for your good," I discover how to live as an authentic Jew.
We know from the Talmud that fearing G-d is a rare quality. In fact. TractateBrachot33b cites the above quoted verse from Deut. 10 to substantiate R. Chanina's claim that . , everything is in the hands of heaven except the fear of heaven."
After the biblical citation requiring Israel *only to fear G-d,' the Talmud immediately asks ". . . is fear of heaven such a little thing? Yes, for Moses it was a small thing. . . "(33b) — but for the rest of us?
The biblical commentary, K'li Yekar, (Rabbi Shlomo Eph-raim Luntschitz, 1550-1619) explains that those v/ho were privileged to see Moses with their own eyes were transformed by his illuminating soul; it was a fever they caught, the fever of an awesome fear before G-d.
Although fear of heaven may be difficult for the rest of us, what made that generation unique was their historical experience.
f I^ Kfi=1^^r'slTes§i^>the'^ fl«tfitfi(iitaoMfl?g% ''H^niiil6W^v*dta) which^eans: 'how • in the present tense, those who went through the Exodus, the Red Sea, the Sinai, having directly experienced these earth-shattering moments, for them it will be possible to fear G-d because they saw G-d's-greatness.
Nonetheless, how do the rest of us, born ages after Moses and the Exodus, reach a state of fearing G-d? To get a better understanding, we must examine our text's final words: *Vetov iach* (for your good).
In effect, the Torah tells us that fearing G-d benefits us directly (*lach*is singular). This is not a text of sublime thoughts for an abstract nation — the guarantee is made to the individual, to each and every one of us.
After the command to fear G-d is given, we are directed ". . . to walk in His ways, and to love him... "(33:12) In fact, fear and love are intimately connected, and what strikes the observer is how the energies of these two emotions are expressed in exactly the opposite ways.
The geometry of love allows a person to love many simultaneously. Love's nature is to include. The more one loves, the more room there is for others. (Though the danger, of course, is letting this love become confused with a sensual attraction toward another's spouse.)
Fear, on the other hand, functions differently. In the midst of fearing one thing (the mind driven by dread) I am concerned exclusively with that one fear. The Dubner Magid (Rabbi Yaakov Krantz, 1741-1804) illustrates this with the parable of a man who feared dogs.
Once, while traveling on foot, he heard a dog's approaching bark, forcing him to retrace his steps. But when he discerned the shadow of a wolf on the road, his fear of the dog disappeared as he raced back to the earlier path. '
The point is simple. Since fear is exclusive in nature, the fear of the wolf devoured all other fears. In a world of wolves and tigers, devoting exclusive attention to the immediate danger is absolutely necessary, but we can use fear's instinctive, impulsive character to our advantage once we understand its inner mechanism.
Life is certainly frightening: illness, rejections, divorce, unemployment. In this week's portion, Ekev, the command to fear G-d is really a prescription against the avalanche of fears awaiting us at every turn, in the process freeing us of many psychological traps. The potential for fear^ though exclusive, is limitless.
But if G-d is truly at the centre of our lives, then we realize the fear we feel at this moment masks another fear, and that fear another one,,and on and on, in circles and angles, unless we come to the source of our lives, the source of all our fears.
The Torah is saying that to grow and develop into something 'good,' we must vanquish the endless chain of fears by fearing the One Above, not those below.
An incident in Tractate Kedushin (81a) helps us understand that when We really fear G-d nothing else matters. The talmudic text speaks of redeemed captive women taken to the home of the pious R.Amram of Nehardea.
They slept in an upper chamber. In the course of the night, R.
SHABBAT SHALOM — Page 8