When You Walk Forward, Always Look Back

Rabbi Ezra Friedman

The chain of Jewish history is one of the foundations which has kept Judaism strong for centuries. In order to truly internalize our sacred tradition, we must understand on a very deep level our perspective of the past. How should a Jew in the 21^st century analyze and examine the generations before him? How does the aspect of time affect our service of Hashem? Inside this week’s Parsha, we can find a hidden answer.

This week’s Parsha, Parashat Kedoshim, is filled with elemental moral lessons, such as loving thy neighbor and the prohibitions against stealing and cheating. The commandment to respect and even fear our parents appears in one of the first verses (Vayikra 19, 3):

אִ֣ישׁ אִמּ֤וֹ וְאָבִיו֙ תִּירָ֔אוּ וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַ֖י תִּשְׁמֹ֑רוּ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

You shall each revere his mother and his father, and keep My sabbaths: I the LORD am your God.

Why does the Torah juxtapose the commandment to revere one’s parents with the keeping of the Shabbat? Is there a deep connection between these two commandments? Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky gives an interesting answer. Both commandments have the same message: embrace and respect the past. Rav Kaminetsky explains that the message of Shabbat is to remind us to never forget that we were created and that we are not the ones who began this world. Respecting our parents has the same theme. We must recognize that our parents raised us with care and dedication and that to forget their kindness is dismissing the past.

This idea, as Rav Kaminetsky writes, can be taken further. Modern society views itself as the most developed and moral generation in history. Many ridicule ancient traditions or previous social norms, while others associate previous generations with a lack of intellectual capacity. Using this perspective, the older generation should honor and respect the younger, not the other way around. Judaism, however, has a different perspective. The farther back through the generations that we look, we find that spirituality was on an extraordinarily high level. When Am Yisrael received the Torah, they were on an incredibly elevated spiritual level, but every successive generation has been distancing itself from that unique moment in history. For generations we have not had the privilege of prophecy, which was a direct conversation between Hashem and Am Yisrael. When prophecy existed, people had the spiritual ability to receive direct communication from Hashem. The further away that we are from that reality, the greater the distance from that great power.

This concept in Judaism is called ,”Yiridat Hadorot” or literally, “The Descent of the Generations”. The moral of this concept is that we must embrace and cherish our forefathers and appreciate the way they looked at the world, even though on the surface, sometimes it might look foolish, since we seem so advanced. Our Sages and the generations that followed them had a unique value system and immense knowledge to impart. When we look at those ancestors, we see the tremendous dedication to Torah and Mitzvot, the fervor and relentless will to never relinquish even a single detail of sacred tradition. We must be in awe and be inspired by these attributes.

The idea of Yiridat Hadorot has immense consequences on our religious lifestyle. For example, it is quite rare for a modern Halachist to outwardly dispute a scholar who lived 1500 years ago. This is out of sense of respect for the spiritual level of the previous generations.

As much as the concept of Yirdat Hadorot exists, it is more complex than it seems. Even though the previous generations had many advantages over ours, on the flip side there is no question that the modern era has advanced in many areas as well. The development of technology and science over the last 100 years has enhanced every aspect of our lives. The world has also improved morally, whether it be in the arena of civil rights or basic social benefits. The civilized world is generally more aware of the needs of other people.

The Jewish nation, as well, has reached great levels of success. Jews are flourishing in every sector of society. We have returned to our homeland after two thousand years of oppression and exile. Jewish pride has never been stronger. How does our modern reality conform with the Jewish concept of Yerudat Hadirot? The answer is that in certain areas, there are definite advantages associated with the older generations. However, at the same time, Hashem has blessed us, in our day and age, with so much good fortune and has given us the advanced tools with which we should strengthen our Avodat Hashem. It may seem like an enigma, but the concept of Yiridat Hadorot and the incredible advancements of the 21^st century can coexist. The medieval scholar, Bernard of Chartres’s teaching of, “Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants” or “Nanos Gigantum Humeris Insidentes“, expresses this perspective best. This idea means that we can respect and revere the past, while at the same utilizing the tools we have been given in the present.

A practical example of this idea of the blending of Yiridat Hadorot with modern innovations can be seen from Holocaust Memorial Day, which we commemorated this week. Historically, there has been quite a lot of controversy over the commemoration of this day. The Israeli government in the 1950s wanted to recognize the Jewish rebellion in the Warsaw ghetto and focus less on the tragedies of the Holocaust. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate was concerned over the fact that according to Jewish law, the month of Nissan is a time of rejoicing and that a day of memorial of that type would conflict with the theme of the month. In addition, the Chief Rabbinate had already chosen the Tenth of Tevet (which is a fast day) to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. In the end, both days remain. My Rebbe and mentor, Rav Chaim Drukman, claims that both these aspects of the Holocaust should be remembered. The tenth of Tevet, a day when we mourn the destruction of our Temple, is an appropriate time to cry and lament the horrors of the Holocaust. Yet, at the same time, we can look at the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, in addition to other acts of strength and courage which occurred during the Holocaust, as a pathway out of our dark exile toward our independence, which we commemorate on Yom Ha’atzmaut. This is an example of studying and embracing our past and the lessons that need to be learned, while looking into enhancing the future using the unique strengths that that our forefathers did not possess.