Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
Below is a summary of Rabbi Segal’s weekly d’var Torah podcast. To listen to this podcasts in the future please find it in the Segal’s Sentiments archive here.
This week’s Torah portion is called Bechukotai. God promises blessings to the people of Israel if they follow the laws and warns about various curses they will receive if they do not obey God’s law. The kelalot, the curses in the Torah portion are quite intense. We do find some rather comforting words however at the end of the Torah portion when God says “I will remember My covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember and I will remember the land.” (Leviticus 26:42)
This verse says to us very candidly that Judaism places great emphasis on our ancestors especially our Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whose names we pay homage to at every prayer service.
In the case of our Torah portion our ancestors play such a crucial role that in their merit God will never completely forsake us or abandon us even if we go astray.
Now contrast this attitude found in the Torah portion to that secular of society where the trend is to shun previous generations and proclaim that our present generation is far superior. For instance, there are many progressives who argue that our generation is endowed with technology that makes us much wiser. Today the internet provides us with a wealth of knowledge all at our finger tips. We now have an enormous amount of scientific data that we did not have previously. There are new modern inventions which are constantly enhancing our lives.
Many religious people argue that our ancestors and previous generations had a certain degree of inherent holiness which our current generation is lacking and therefore we in the modern era are inferior. I will admit that there is some textual basis to this idea. (Shabbat 112b)
So what is the Jewish view on this subject? In Judaism there is no zero sum game. We cannot proclaim that the modern age is superior to previous eras and by that same token we should not say simply old people good, young people bad.
Judaism requires us to achieve a balance. We need to give great deference to our ancestors but we must also remember that our ancestors were innovative.
Abraham is referred to as the foundation of kindness, Isaac as the foundation of service and sacrifice, and to Jacob as the foundation of Torah. The world stands on these three pillars which our forefathers created. (Avot 1:2) Additionally, the Matriarchs of Israel achieved many remarkable things as well.
To live a meaningful Jewish life, we must respect our ancestors. But we also must emulate their legacy as innovators who brought new ideas to their generation. Our task must be to disseminate our own unique ideas. In this way we will play our role in the world’s betterment, achieving something very special that no other generation has ever been able to accomplish previously. May this be our blessing now.
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Rabbi Shlomo Segal is a member of the UTJ’s Panel of Halakhic Inquiry, which issues religious responses on behalf of the organization on contemporary issues, and vice president of Morashah, the rabbinic arm of UTJ.
Rabbi Segal is also a member of the International Rabbinic Fellowship (IRF) and the New York Board of Rabbis.
In fall 2013, after a decade of pulpit experience, Rabbi Segal founded Kehilat Moshe, a liberal Orthodox congregation in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn, NY. While still a new congregation, Kehilat Moshe has emerged as a diverse, multi-generational caring and intellectually stimulating community rooted in both pluralism and halakhah.
Rabbi Segal delivers a weekly commentary which you can find at kehilatmoshe.org and on YouTube. He was also interviewed on National Public Radio on the subject of “Swinging Chicken Ritual Divides Orthodox Jews”.