By Rabbi Avi Billet
The song of Haazinu is quite poetic, complete with imagery which invites the most lyrical interpretation.
In the context of describing how amazing and incredible God is, Devarim 32:5 reads, "ShiHet lo lo banav mumam, dor ikesh u'f'taltol." In the Living Torah, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan follows the interpretations of Ralbag; Malbim and HaKethav VeHaKabbalah in his chosen interpretation, "Destruction is His children's fault, not His own, you warped and twisted generation."
But in the large footnote, he demonstrates the discrepancy of opinion as to what this verse means.
"Literally, 'Destruction to Him not His children their defect.' Or, 'They have hurt themselves, not Him, faulted children' (Targum); 'The defect of His non-children is that they have been corrupt to Him' (Ibn Ezra; Ramban; Sforno); 'They were corrupt to Him, not [like] children; this is the defect of the warped and twisted generation' (Saadia; cf. Lekach Tov); 'They have been corrupt, not Him, it is His children's defect' (Ralbag); 'The ones who have corrupted His [name] are not His children because of their defect' (Abarbanel); 'Is destruction His? No! It is the fault of His children' (Moreh Nevukhim 3:12; Chizzkuni); 'Have they corrupted Him? No. It is [merely] their own defect' (Abarbanel); 'He destroyed His non-children, but it was their own fault' (Chizzkuni); 'Their defect has corrupted it so that they are no longer His children' (Hirsch); or, 'They were corrupt, not [pleasing] Him, defective children' (Septuagint)."
As comprehensive as he is in explaining the verse, Rabbi Kaplan did not get to the Chafetz Chaim, who explained the verse as an important introspective lesson – not with regard to Him (God), but him, a father, who ought to model a proper Jewish existence to his children.
"If a person conducts himself in such a manner that he mocks mitzvot, he should know that 'He is not just destroying himself ('lo lo' meaning "not only to himself"), but "banav mumam," he brings blemishes upon his children as well. Because if the father dismisses a light or easy mitzvah, the child will learn to make light of more difficult or more important mitzvot (mitzvot chamurot). This results in a "dor ikesh u'f'taltol," a generation that is warped and twisted."
Now that we are past Yom Kippur and about to commence the holiday of Sukkot, this message is more poignant than ever. While we live in a time in which the parents currently raising children are of the most well-yeshiva-educated of the last few generations, the challenges which face today's kids are like nothing that ever existed before.
One need only look at films made in the 1980s and 1990s to see how different our world is, from cellphones and computers to text messaging and email. We communicate differently. Most kids today don't know what a cord on a telephone is for, and wonder what purpose pay phones ever served. This is one minute example of how things are different. Over 300 channels on the television exacerbates many people's abilities to think creatively and to find more meaningful ways of occupying down time.
And so when it comes to the transmission of our heritage, we face an even different challenge. The breakdown of real communication has been amplified into different areas of Jewish life. We had a tradition of respect for people older than us that is fading. I grew up calling adults Mr. or Mrs. LastName. Kids today call adults by their first names.
The speed of television and film, the constant changing of angles and images, gives people even shorter attention spans than we can imagine. We are not training the same "zittsfleisch" that may have been more developed in previous generations. (Here's a shout out to two of my friends who have told me 'We are working on getting rid of the TV in the house.' Chazak Ve'Ematz!)
Most important, following the lesson of the Chafetz Chaim, we must reaffirm our commitment to having reverence for the Torah lifestyle we hold so dear. Those who talk in shul, men who don't wear tzitzis, those who don't prepare for Shabbos properly, those who gossip all the time, who complain about the school, who criticize the rabbi, who have bad tempers, who demonstrate over and over how they are not model Torah-citizens, who don't understand that being an observant Jew is about a whole lot more than only buying kosher, sending your kids to yeshiva, and keeping shabbos can not effectively transmit the best "chinuch" to their children and raise a generation that will be respectful of the things we know to respect, even if at times we are lax about them.
We must teach respect of elders, prioritize the environment we want to create in our homes, and respect every aspect of a Jewish life that can help protect our children from becoming a warped and twisted generation.
We can start by fulfilling the mitzvah "to rejoice in your holiday... [with your children and every person who is part of our community]" (Devarim 16:14) If we model it every day, the message will strike home. It always does.
And so when it comes to the transmission of our heritage, we face an even different challenge. The breakdown of real communication has been amplified into different areas of Jewish life. We had a tradition of respect for people older than us that is fading. I grew up calling adults Mr. or Mrs. LastName. Kids today call adults by their first names.
The speed of television and film, the constant changing of angles and images, gives people even shorter attention spans than we can imagine. We are not training the same "zittsfleisch" that may have been more developed in previous generations. (Here's a shout out to two of my friends who have told me 'We are working on getting rid of the TV in the house.' Chazak Ve'Ematz!)
Most important, following the lesson of the Chafetz Chaim, we must reaffirm our commitment to having reverence for the Torah lifestyle we hold so dear. Those who talk in shul, men who don't wear tzitzis, those who don't prepare for Shabbos properly, those who gossip all the time, who complain about the school, who criticize the rabbi, who have bad tempers, who demonstrate over and over how they are not model Torah-citizens, who don't understand that being an observant Jew is about a whole lot more than only buying kosher, sending your kids to yeshiva, and keeping shabbos can not effectively transmit the best "chinuch" to their children and raise a generation that will be respectful of the things we know to respect, even if at times we are lax about them.
We must teach respect of elders, prioritize the environment we want to create in our homes, and respect every aspect of a Jewish life that can help protect our children from becoming a warped and twisted generation.
We can start by fulfilling the mitzvah "to rejoice in your holiday... [with your children and every person who is part of our community]" (Devarim 16:14) If we model it every day, the message will strike home. It always does.
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