And You Of Tender Years, Can't Know The Fears That Your Elders Grew By (Graham Nash -"Teach Your Children")

          Our university-bound daughter returned from summer camp this week. With only a few days to get her clothes washed and packed before being dropped off at University next week; I reminded her that one of the important aspects of being a “college student” is the opportunity to question, question authority, and to question the dominant culture. The idea of questioning is incredibly Jewish and in a sense, “counter-cultural”. As we spoke, I happen to be listening to a band who played for only the second time together fifty years ago before several hundred thousand people. As she listened to the lyrics, I reminded her that fifty years ago this week, in August of 1969, on a farm dairy farm owned by Max Yasgur the Jewish son of Russian immigrants, outside the small town of Beth El, NY, a music and arts festival took place known as Woodstock. Hundreds of thousands of “college-age kids” gathered together. Woodstock would eventually come to represent the counter-cultural movement of an entire decade and generation. Forget for a moment that the nearest town was Beth El, named after the Bet El in Torah. Max Yasgur, the Jewish Dairy farmer, was a member of the Republican Party, a supporter of the Viet Nam war, and he essentially disagreed with everything that the Woodstock came to represent. When asked why he leased his fields for the Woodstock festival, Yasgur explained: “that if the generation gap is to be closed, we older people have to do more than we have done.” ("Farmer With Soul: Max Yasgur". The New York Times. 1969-08-17)

          This Shabbat, we read from Parsha V’Etchanan; it is also known as Shabbat Nachamu “Shabbat of Comfort”. Parsha V’Etchanan is always the Torah portion that immediately follows Tisha B’Av. Certainly, after commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples, B’nai Yisroel needed spiritual comforting. Certainly, in this week’s Parsha, V’Etchanan, Moshe’ reassures B’nai Yisroel of its destiny and in doing so, comforts them. After concluding a brief history of B’nai Yisroel’s wanderings and a gentle rebuke of this generation which is about to enter into Eretz Canaan, Moshe now provides a framework for all the laws he will teach in succeeding weeks. Moshe presents the Aseret Dibrot, the Ten Commandments to this news generation. Moshe infuses the people with self-respect. He reminds this generation that the entire basis for our nationhood and our relationship to God is avoiding idolatry at all costs. Avoiding idolatry ultimately distinguishes us from the rest of the world. Finally, Moshe reminds the people that if they follow the advice, then everything will go well. From that perspective, Moshe is re-assuring the people that the future is possible and plausible.

          Certainly the re-iteration of the laws, the inspiring words of the inevitable entry into the land and the realization of a covenant that God made with B’nai Yisroel’s ancestors are considered to words that are both comforting and inspired. However, those words provide comfort in the short term immediate future. Moshe understands that insuring a future is not about the next day, week, month or year. Moshe needs to provide comfort, inspiration, and sustainability for not only the generation that is ready to enter the land but all the generations that will be born in the land, born while in exile and all the generations that transcend time. First, Moshe invokes the two witnesses that embody the infinite. Heaven and Earth are the witnesses to B’nai Yisroel’s acceptance of covenant (Deut 4:26). Moshe reminds this generation that they will become parents and grandparents (Deut. 4:25). Moshe reminds this generation that their primary responsibility is to teach these ordinances, these laws to their children and grandchildren. Moshe reminds this generation that it must teach “how” to observe, “when” to observe, and “why” to observe, and every parent must be prepared for the inevitability that the children will question (Deut. 6:7; 6:20). For Moshe, the most important way to sustain the generational commitment to the covenant is for parents and grandparents to teach and transmit the data, the information, and the values to the next generation.

          Moshe understood and warned B’nai Yisroel that the success of the covenant is depended upon B’nai Yisroel remaining separate and apart from other people. Moshe understood that the covenant remains viable as long as and as effective as parents and grandparents are able to teach it to their children. Moshe also understood that children’s curiosity, children’s desire to learn, to question and to seek reminds parents and grandparents of their sacred task. Then it is up to the older generation to do what it can to pass along their experiences, their wisdom, their knowledge and diminish that generation gap. Fifty years ago, a Jewish dairy farmer in Beth-El, New York understood that and fifty years later, with our daughter preparing to head off to university, we understand that as well.

Peace,
Rav Yitz