By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
I waited 17 minutes for the ‘Grab’ rideshare driver to pick me up. The entire distance was a few hundred meters. If the weather was favorable, it would have been a pleasant stroll but in the heat of Thailand, I preferred to wait for the ride than walk.
The driver thanked me for waiting for him.
I thanked him for driving so far to pick me up.
Why were we thanking each other for a simple ride?
I know why I was thankful. Because sometimes when the driver sees that its taking him longer than expected and the entire fare is less than THB 100 ($2.88) he cancels in the hope of finding something more lucrative and then you have to start the process again.
Why was the driver grateful?
The driver explained that some customers get angry when it takes so long to be be picked up, and cancel their ride in frustration and in the hope of finding a car that is closer.
(I loved the ‘gratefulness’ reminder in the middle of a busy day. It is so important to find those things that we can and should be grateful for. This Chag is also called the Chag Habikurim the time of fulfilling the mitzvah of bringing the first fruits to Hashem’s Bet Hamikdash which teaches us the centrality of gratitude).
But, continued my driver, since he is already old (in his 70’s) he doesn’t get angry anymore.
I couldn’t resist asking if he got angry when he was younger and he admitted that indeed he would sometimes get angry.
After he told me his age, I commented that our Torah teaches respect for elders.
To which he responded that when he was growing up, elders were respected here in Thailand.
However, he continued wistfully, now the new generation doesn’t have that same kind of respect for elders that they used to have.
It seems that in many cultures and in many generations, it is commonplace to talk about the ‘young generation’ as being morally inferior to the previous generation.
Elders often wag their fingers at youngsters and say ‘when I was growing up people didn’t act that way…’.
Hearing it from my ‘grab’ driver about the local society wouldn’t have been remarkable, if not for the timing.
The timing of the conversation was impeccable.
A few days before the holiday of Shavuot.
When G-d made the most dramatic statement that he considers the children the most powerful guarantee that there is for Jewish/Torah continuity.
Take a look at this Midrash (Shir Hashirim Rabba 1:4) and you will see what I mean:
At Sinai, when the Jews were ready to receive the Torah, God said to them,
“What? Am I supposed to give you the Torah without any security?
Bring some good guarantors that you will keep it properly, and I will give it to you.”
Jews: Our ancestors will be our guarantors.
God: They themselves need a guarantor!
Avraham questioned Me: “How will I know?” (Genesis 15:8). Yitzchak loved Esav although I hate him (Malachi 1:3). Yaakov thought I mistreated him (see Isaiah 40:27).
Jews: Our prophets.
God: I have complaints against them, too: “The shepherds sinned against Me” (Jeremiah 2:8). “Israel, your prophets were like foxes…” (Ezekiel 13:4).
Jews: Our children are our guarantors.
God: Now, that’s a guarantor! “From the mouth of infants and babes You founded oz (strength)” (Psalms 8:3).
The Rebbe transformed this Midrashic teaching into a call for action.
Our holidays are cyclical. We relive the events every year as if they are happening again. On Pesach we eat Matzahs and feel like we ourselves have been gifted liberation.
Similarly, we celebrate Shavuot and the giving of the Torah as spiritually it is recurring again. Not merely a historical event but a current event.
In that sense, the Torah is being ‘given again’ on Shavuot. We reenact what took place 3335 years ago. We read the Ten Commandments at the Synagogue from the Torah scroll.
If we are once again being gifted the Torah by Hashem, we ought to make sure make sure that the children who are the guarantors are present.
Babies, toddles, children, are all included.
The Torah needs to be accepted with joy. Kids need to be provided with things that are joyous on their level to express their inner joy at receiving the Torah.
It has become a widespread tradition to provide ice cream and other sweets to the children in conjunction with the reading of the Ten Commandments.
So now we know what to do.
Come to hear the Torah reading and bring the kids. And provide ice cream and joy.
The takeaway from this is that Hashem clearly believes in the next generation as those who have the potential to be the carriers of the Torah forward eternally.
From this Midrash we learn that we should not automatically be dismissive of the ‘next generation’. No instinctive wagging our fingers in displeasure.
(Of course, there are many things that need fixing in terms of youth. They are not perfect; they need eons of guidance. I am talking about not adopting widespread pessimism about the next generation. When we view children through the lens of Hashems Torah the kids should be viewed as having incredible potential. It is up to us to nurture and develop it).
Let us try and understand this Midrash a bit more.
How can the children whose future is not yet proven, be guarantors for the Torah where our holy Forefathers and venerable Prophets fell short of Hashems exacting standards?
I will sharpen the question by using a joke.
A guy comes to the bank and asks for a huge loan. The banks manager responds, ‘how can I give you such a humungous loan, when I don’t even know you?’ to which the would-be borrower responded ‘that is strange. The bank I usually go to asked me ‘how can we consider giving you such a big loan. We know you too well’. When taking a loan is it better that you know me or you don’t know me?
Are kids that have an unproven track record more fit to be guarantors than the elders and sages who are nearly perfect?
The answer is a resounding YES.
Midrash says clearly that G-d said he is accepting the children as reliable guarantors.
My brother R’ Zalman of Chabad of Rancho S. Margarita shared the following thought with me which sheds light on this topic.
A Torah sold last week for $38 million.
Impressed?
Called Codex Sassoon after the name of the collector, it's an ancient leather-bound, handwritten parchment volume, from the Land of Israel or Syria (which had a large Jewish community for over 2000 years), dating from around 900 C.E..
It's not a kosher Torah scroll; it's more like the printed Torah books we use to study from.
According to Sotheby's this volume "contains almost the entirety of the Hebrew Bible" (all 24 books, the Tanach), making it the most complete early physical copy to exist today.
It is indeed interesting to me, and I'd love to hold it in my hands, and leaf through some of the pages.
But am I impressed?!
About what?
We have it today too - the original as given to us at Sinai, and then through Moshe and the subsequent prophets - and as handed down through the generations: hand-copied, studied, lived, and even printed.
Gutenberg's printing press came in 1436; the first Jewish Hebrew books were already published in 1472!
If you want to know what's impressive to me, it's this (photo collage from a recent Mommy and me):
It's living Judaism - a continuum of history of 3335 years from Sinai, and before.
Beginning with the education of the Guarantors of the Torah, the children, and continuing through the education and observance and celebration of teens, adults, seniors at every stage of life, picking up wherever you are.
It doesn't cost $38 million, and you don't need to go see it in a museum.
This Shavuos, as we celebrate the Giving of the Torah for the 3336th time, let us embrace the precious gift given to our safekeeping.
Unlike the Sassoon volume that requires special handling, this gift, the Torah, stays better when it gets more exposure--when it's used, lived, experienced.
One page at a time, one mitzvah at a time - whether yourself or with others - every bit works to uplift our lives and the world to a better and more G-dly existence.
And after all, isn't that the goal and fervent wish, a world transformed?
(Other article I about where our future lies from the Chabad rabbi of Calabasas click here and from Chabad.org click here).
Bottom line: I think we fully understand that the future of our people, the future of our Torah being kept, is totally in the hands of the next generation.
Here is what we can do. Everyone at their respective stage in life.
Marry Jewish and have Jewish children.
Get those kids involved in Torah study and Mitzvah observance.
Contribute money to Jewish causes that educate children.
Be more patient when children are acting like children.
Don’t ‘wag your finger’ and tsk tsk disparagingly to the next generation, shine your light by doing the right things and teach by being a living example.
Chag Sameach
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yosef Kantor
As we enter Shavuot which is the time we became the unified nation of Am Yisrael and mutually responsible for each other, please consider a monthly* gift of $18 - $54 - $180 to our Tzedakah Humanitarian fund that provides ongoing relief and emergency assistance to fellow Jews here in Thailand.
*By clicking the monthly box