Family
Vs. Fortune
Posted on April 15, 2021 (5781) By Rabbi Berel
Wein | Series: Rabbi
Wein | Level: Beginner
The Torah
indirectly, but softly and clearly, speaks to the continuity of the Jewish
people and the human race generally, through the idea of having children. It
has been statistically shown that as prosperity rises in certain sections of
society, the birthrate in that section of society declines. For me, this was
always counterintuitive, because if one is prosperous, then one can certainly
support more children. If one is almost impoverished, the difficulty of raising
and supporting children is much greater.
The statistics regarding this matter are borne out by much empirical
evidence that we also see in our own personal experience. For some reason, the
affluent amongst us wish to retain their affluence by not having to spend money
on raising and educating children. Children, to a great extent, impose
themselves on the lifestyle, comfort, and wealth of their parents.
Having and raising children is a positive act of faith in the
future, and the unlimited generosity towards others. The
amount of selfishness and narcissism that unfortunately characterize many in
our society today accounts, in a great measure, for the large decrease in the
birth rate in many westerns cultures and countries. Europe is shrinking
population-wise, and it is only the migration of millions from Africa and other
parts of the world that keep its labor supply constant and allow it to
function. Eventually this phenomenon causes many other societal problems, and
many of those problems are already apparent in France, Germany, Italy, and other
parts of Europe where there had been an absorption of many immigrants who have
not been able to integrate themselves successfully into European society. The
United States is not far behind in this critical problem, regarding the numbers
and dimension of immigration and its integration, and the shrinking birthright
amongst the well-educated and the well-heeled.
Judaism has always been pro-family… and pro-large family. King
Solomon pointed out to us that the future is unknown, and no parent can predict
the success and life of one’s child. Yet what is hidden from us by Heaven, the
Talmud says, need not concern us as far as our duties to obey and perform G-d’s
commandments. The future is always mysterious, and try as we may, and we
certainly do, we are unable to guarantee lives and fortunes of the next
generation.
The variables in life are so enormous that there is no certainty
possible. Having and raising children is a matter of faith and belief that
somehow there is a future, and that the children that we bring into this world
will be able to manage and benefit from that future.
The Torah emphasizes that women have a strong maternal instinct that
drives them to wish to have children, despite the immediate discomfort and
long-range problems that all children bring to their parents. It is this life
force within the woman that guarantees the survival of the Jewish people, and,
in effect, the entire human race. In this week’s reading the Torah concentrates
on the purity of the woman and her relationship to the Creator through
childbirth, for she is “the mother of all life.”
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Berel Wein
Self
Destruction
Posted on March 29, 2022 (5782) By Rabbi
Mordechai Kamenetzky | Series: Drasha | Level: Beginner
There is
an underlying theme to the message of the Metzora. This spiritual disease that
causes discoloration of the skin or of hairs upon the skin, in unpredictable
patches is caused by sins of speech gossip, slander and the like. When a
person notices the discoloration, he is to immediately approach a kohen and
show him the abnormality. It is up to the kohen to not only to determine the
status of the affliction, but to actually invoke the status of impurity on the
man through his rendition of his adjudication on the matter.
The physical affliction of tzora’as is definitely not a contagious
one. In fact, the Torah teaches us that there are times that the kohen can hold
off on his declaration; e.g. a groom during the week of wedding festivities is
spared the humiliation of isolation. If tzora’as were a communicable disease it
would surely warrant immediate isolation despite the circumstances.
Yet when
a man is declared as tamei (impure) he is kept in isolation. The Torah
explicitly explains: “All the days that the affliction is upon him he shall
remain contaminated; he is contaminated. He shall dwell in isolation; his
dwelling shall be outside the camp” (Leviticus 13:46).
The question is simple. If the sins of anti-social behavior cause
the malady, why is the man isolated? Would it not be better if he is
embarrassed within the community and learns to better himself through communal
interaction? How will solitude help him cure his societal ills?
There is a classic tale of the gentleman who purchased a plane
ticket from New York to Los Angeles. The man was quite finicky about traveling,
and asked the agent for a window seat. Somehow, he was not placed by the
window, rather in the aisle.
During the entire trip, he fidgeted and squirmed. Immediately after
the long journey the man went straight to complain.
“I specifically asked for a window seat,” he exclaimed. “Your agent
in New York assured me that I would be getting a window seat. Look at this
stub. It placed me right in the aisle!”
The customer relations agent in Los Angeles was not fazed. Unfazed
she asked the man, “Did you ask the person in the window seat to trade places?”
This time the man was irate. “I was not able to!”
“And why not?”
“There was no one in the seat.”
My grandfather, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky, of blessed memory, in his
classic work Emes L’Yaakov explains. People often blame the ramifications of
their doings on everyone else but themselves. Truth be told, a person who
is afflicted can circumvent confinement by not reporting the negah to the
Kohen, or even by pulling out the hairs that are discolored. It is akin to a
man who is sentenced to house imprisonment. His hands are tied together with
the rope attached to his teeth. He is told to watch himself and not escape.
In essence, a personality flaws are merely a Divine wake-up-call. It
is heaven’s way of letting an individual know that there is something wrong. It
is a personal message and must be taken personally. And so in solitude the
man sits and ponders what exactly needs correction.
If a person wants to correct himself, he need not cavort with others
to do so. If one can remove the barriers of false flattery and social
mendacity, he can do a lot better for himself: because self-improvement is
dependent upon self-motivation. Without the truth meeting the self, any attempt
toward self-improvement may lead to nothing more than self-destruction.
Good Shabbos
Dedicated
in memory of Judah Leib (Jerry) Lipschitz by Mr. and Mrs. Ben Lipschitz.
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