Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1994-09-15

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THE
The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
Sennng Columbus and the Central Ohio
Jewish Community since 1922
VOLUME 72
NUMBER 38
SEPTEMBER 15,1994
10TISHREI5755
Partial Golan withdrawal
offered as first step
toward peace with Syria
■   -  page 2
Yom Kippur in Bangkok
page 3
CTA banquet set
page 4
■i
City of Hope plans Donor
Luncheon, Gem Show
page 5
Eastside Consortium sets
•Meet the Candidates Night'
page 7
Dr. Donald Sylvan assumes
mantle of CRC leadership
page 12
EARLY DEADLINE
The deadline for the Sept. 29 OJC
is noon oh Thursday, Sept. 22.
In observance of Yom Kippur, the OJC office will be
closed on Thursday, Sept, 15.
■■■■■ In The Chronicle ■■■■■
At The JCC ; 10
'Community... ; ....4-7
Editor's Mailbox ; 3
Federation.... •;——,• • 12
Fifty Years Ago 12
FrontPage ; ......,..,2
In The News ;....,..,... 8
lifecycle,,. ,.„.»..8
Marketplace..!...,..,'.,...... 11
Synagogues...... ;. «... ...j,....,,....;.^
Viewpoint... , , 3
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Ohio   Hist. Society   I. ibr
WHY FAST?
The Jewish hunger for spirituality
By Rabbi Bernard S. Raskas
Beginning with a statement
in the Bible (Leviticus 23:32)
and reinforced by centuries of
practice, the central ritual of
Yom Kippur is fasting. Aside
from the biblical commandment and Jewish tradition, why
fast? The reasons may be
grouped into four basic categories.
The first is that it is a sign of
contrition for the wrongs we
have done and- the good we
have failed to do. This can be
found in many cultures, and
what better ritual is there for a
Day of Atonement? It is an act
of affirming one's sincerity.
While some sort of sacrifice
(symbolic or real) is a sign of
remorse, Judaism has taken
great pains to avoid masochism. Jewish law carefully
guards the method of fasting.
The aged, pregnant women,
small children and the ill are
specifically warned not to fast
— indeed, the** are forbidden
to fast.
A rabbinical student once
came to a renowned rabbi and
asked to be ordained as a rabbi. The rabty inquired about
his daily conduct and the candidate replied, "I always dress
in black; I only drink water, I
place tacks in my shoes for
self-mortification; I roll in the
snow and I order the synagogue caretaker to give me 40
stripes daily on my bare back."
Just then a black horse entered
the courtyard, drank water and
began rolling in the snow.
"Observe," said the rabbi.
"This creature is black; it
drinks only water; it has nails
in its shoes; it rolls in the snow
and it receives more than 40
stripes a day. Still it is nothing
but a horse."
Judaism rejects the concept
of needless self-torture as a
means of attaining a high level
of spirituality. That is why a
whole tractate of the -Talmud
(Taanit) is devoted to laws of
fasting. Fasting is a means to
an end, not an end in itself.
The second reason for fasting is to demonstrate self-discipline. Disciplining oneself is
never easy, but all religious
teachers have insisted on its
value. It is interesting that in
the Ten Commandments, seven are negative and only three
are positive. In the classic
list of 613 commandments,
there are 248 affirmative precepts but there are 365 negative ones.
This goes to the heart of
contemporary society. We are
, struggling to restrain the rampant greed, the uncontained
violence and the drug abuses
that are plaguing us. Our core
issue today is how to control
our harmful impulses, how to
teach our children proper behavior, and how to transmit to
society the importance of
channeling one's drive into
healthy avenues.
The Gapn Rabbi Hayyim of
Brisk [19th cent.] used to be
lenient with the sick in the
matter of eating on Yom Kippur. He was asked, "How is it
that the master is so lenient
when it comes to Yom Kippur?" Said he, "Not that I
am lenient when it comes to
Yom Kippur, but that I am
strict when it comes to saving'
a life."
A third reason for fasting is
that it is a means to focus on
the spiritual. Judaism encourages the legitimate gratification of bodily instincts. However, it also emphasizes the
spiritual as primary in our
lives. Humans do not live by
bread alone, but also by faith,
values and the dimension of
the spiritual.
Rabbi Israel Salanter, the
founder ofthe modern Jewish
ethics movement, once failed
to appear in the synagogue on
Kol Nidre Eve. His congregation waited, and when the rabbi did not appear, the members became worried and went
out to search for him. After
several hours of effort they
found him in a neighbor's
barn. They wondered what
had happened to prevent their
rabbi from being in the synagogue on the holiest night of
the year. It seems that on the
way to the synagogue Rabbi
Salanter had found a neighbor's calf which had strayed
and become entangled in the
brush. With great difficulty he
tenderly freed it and brought it
back to the barn. When the
men ofthe congregation found
him there, he was tending the
animal's wounds.
They protested, saying,
"How could you do that?
Don't you know that your first
duty as a rabbi is prayer?"
He answered gently, "God
is called Rahmana, the Merciful One. An act of mercy is a
prayer, too."
This approach is well summarized in a simple epigram
uttered by Sakini, the central
character of The Teahouse of
the August Mf>on: "Pain
makes one think. Thought
makes one wise. Wisdom
makes life endurable."
The fourth reason for fasting is that it is a means of
awakening compassion. By
knowing what it means to go
hungry, if only for a day, our
hearts are moved for those
who suffer. By fasting we are
motivated to think of others
and to alleviate their distress.
In the Yom Kippur morning
haftarah (Isaiah 58:6-7), this
idea is given its classic meaning:
This is the fast I desire:
To unlock the fetters of wickedness,
And untie the cords of the
yoke
To let thts oppressed go free;
To break off every yoke.
It is to share your bread with
the hungry,
And to take tbe wretched poor
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