It is great to be back. It’s so nice to see everyone. I appreciate everyone who filled in while I was away. With your permission, I would like to share an anecdote from our vacation. One of the hallmarks of the Goldstein family summers is loading up the family into our 12-seater Ford Transit and making the 9-hour drive to NY. When we moved here 12 years ago that length drive seemed daunting, today we do it without batting an eye. Of course, there are lots of strategic decisions that need to be made to make this experience the least painful for everyone involved. The first is who sits next to who. The second is what snacks we are bringing. And don’t think these are trivial decisions. One mistake and Ukraine vs. Russia can erupt in our Van. Another similar issue is who gets to pick what music. Are we listening to Uncle Mosihe, Yoni Z, Shwecky a podcast or an audiobook? The right choice can make the time
fly by, but the wrong one….Anyway, as I am usually the driver, sometimes I exert executive privilege and overrule the prevailing sentiment. Could be I’m tired or bored or worn out by the other alternatives. Be that as it may, this past trip I did that at one point and put on a political show. I forgot if it was Ben Shapiro or Ezra Klein. Anyway, can you guess what the subject was? Of course, it was the topic that has dominated the entire media for the last few weeks.
Should Biden drop out of the race because of his debate debacle? And the commentators were going on and on about his age. And how he didn’t seem up to being president. There most definitely were elements of sarcasm and subtle mockery involved. Anyway, after the hour podcast, when my turn ended, it was Miriam’s turn and she put on a podcast interview of a great Rosh Yeshiva from today Rav Tzvi Kushelevsky Shlit” who was being interviewed with his wife about having had their first child at age 88. This is a true and miraculous story. She is in her late 50’s. And he is in his late 80’s. And of course, the purpose of the podcast was through their personal story of never giving up hope and always having Emunah in HaShem that others enduring whatever trials they have going on in their lives should similarly retain their faith. Well, do you want to know what happened? From the back seat one of my children pipes up “Can we turn this off? Can we change it to something different? We don’t want to listen to the old Rabbi.” Now it’s true, he sounds pretty old and it wasn’t like listening to a young man. But I was horrified as I realized what we had just done. By allowing our children to listen to a political podcast denigrating the President of the United States- our children had lost respect for their elders- including a venerable Talmud Chochom. Needless to say, we were horrified.
But let me tell you about another debate that happened this week that also had devastating consequences for the Jewish people. In fact there is an ancient Jewish tradition to fast this week. In 1242 in France R Yechiel MiParis one of the great Tosafists was summoned to a debate by the royal powers to debate a heretic- Nicholas Donin. This was one of the most horrible Jewish Christina debates that the Jewish People were subjected to by the Church. The Jews were forced to defend the Talmud against charges of blasphemy against Christianity. Obviously, these were not fair rules and the Jews had to be very careful about what they said. And as a result, the Jews lost and the Talmud was sentenced to be destroyed in France. And indeed in 1242 24 cartloads of the Talmud were burned the week of Parshas Chukkas. This was a terrible tragedy for the Jewish people in the age before the printing press, the cornerstone of Jewish life and practice, the Talmud was decimated in full view of the people. A total catastrophe. Undoubtedly, there were countless irreplaceable volumes From the French Tosafist that we cannot recover. The commentaries explain that the Targum translates Zos Chukas HaTorah- as this is the decree against the Torah. As if to say, that on Parshas Chukkas G-d Himself condemned the Talmuds to be burned. In addition to a fast day, this is enshrined in Jewish tradition in one of the kinnos that we recite on Tisha B’Av SHaali Serufa BaAish. But if this is enshrined as a decree against the Jewish People, why in fact did they deserve this punishment? One of the great sages Rav Hillel of Verona famously said that it was because the Jews themselves had burned the works of the Ramabm in that very same spot in France 40 days earlier. You see they had convened the Rabbis of Paris and accused the world of the amvam as heretical. They raid them in a disgraceful and humiliating way. “LGnai ULivizayon” “And if you ask me who knows that those decrees were [imposed] for the transgression of the burning of Sefer ha-Mada and Moreh [Nevukhim], I will answer you. The sign and
the portent is this: Not even forty days elapsed between the burning of our rabbi’s book and the burning of the Talmud, and all the books and commentaries found in Paris were burnt in that very same place, and the ashes of the Talmud mingled with the ashes of Sefer ha-Mada and Moreh [Nevukhim] because the ashes were still in that place. This is a matter of truth, obviously immediately apparent to all peoples, Jewish and Gentile. All knew that it was the judgment of Heaven and that from On High He sent His flame against those who had extended their hand to harm the holy book.”
The point that Rav Hillel of Verona is making is that the Torah itself, Judaism itself suffers a decree against it when we don’t accord it the proper respect. The Jews did not accord the Torah of the Rambam the proper respect therefore there was a decree against the Torah.
My friends, the greatest fallout from Biden’s debate performance is not whether or not he runs for president. But when our children hear so many commentators, so many of us, listening to or talking about Biden’s inability to govern because of his age, it makes them lose some respect for our elders. In Judaism, we put the elderly on a pedestal not treat them with scorn. To be sure, the situation facing our country is very unique and I am not being critical of anyone’s political views- But what I am calling for, is that regardless of your political views-whether you are a Republican or Democrat, A Democrat that supports Biden or thinks he should resign, we must insulate our children from this very damaging conversation. Because we cannot allow our children to look at our elders as dismissive. On the contrary, we must double down and look up to our venerable Gedolie Yisrael, our elders with ever greater respect.
I want to tell you a personal story. When I was in Eretz Yisrael in Yeshiva I learned at Yeshivas Kol Torah. It was a very large and well-known Israeli Yeshiva with many great Roshei Yeshiva. Great rabbis. Brilliant rabbis. Scholars Talmudists. Figures who were renowned throughout the Torah world. And every Motzei Shabbos there is a shiur by one of the greatest rabbis of the last generation. His name was Rav Shlomo Wolbe zt”l. He was renowned for being the author of the Alie Shur. Vary famous work for yeshiva students. And- to me what was most important was to have the opportunity to listen to a shier from him. The problem was that he was very old. He was very hard to listen to. He spoke very softly. He was hunched over. To put it in perspective, he sat in front of the Aron on a chair and in a barely audible voice spoke into a microphone that didn’t help very much. He was very hard to understand. But the shiur
was very well attended. What? Why would people go if they could hear the vast erudite Torah scholars that were omnipresent? That they could hear much clearer? That I would argue, was saying more incisive things/ Sharper arguments. The answer is that Rav Volbe was a literal link to the menorah, the transmission of the Torah. He was the prized student of the Mirrer Yeshiva in Europe and a prized student of the great Mashgiach Rav Yerucham Levovitz. And for us to have the immense privilege of being in the presence of someone who brought us one step back to Sinai was worth more than all of the sharp Torah insights of everyone else
combined. This is the ethos of the Torah!
My friends, this speech is a tale of two debates. The debate of 1242 and the debate of 2024.
The debate of 1242 in France, according to Jewish Tradition was part of divine retribution for a lack of respect for our elders and for Torah scholars. The Jews ridiculed the Ramabam and burnt his works and were punished with the Talmud being burned in the exact same public square in Paris where they had disrespected the Rambam weeks earlier. The debate of 2024 has caused our society to denigrate the 81-year-old President of the United States and
discuss mental and cognitive decline. We are in peril that this can insidiously seep into our children and Yiddisshe environments. And if any discussion must happen, it must happen in a respectful way. We must teach our kids the respectful way to respond to these issues. So take it from me, don’t play a podcast on this subject with your children in the care- or have conversations about it at the dinner table or the like. Parental discretion is advised.