I once heard a particular story from a colleague in Johannesburg, who, like me, grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. He said that his grandfather was once the victim of an attempted mugging on Shabbat. Calmly, he told his attackers that it was his Sabbath and that he had no money for them.
“Come back on Sunday,” he said. They left him in peace. It seems a generation ago, even the muggers had some respect.
How times have changed. And with it, our values.
Today, Israel may boast the most successful and courageous defense force in the world; nevertheless, Jews at heart remain a peace-loving people. We fight for Israel because our lives depend on it, and we dare not let down our guard. But if we had a choice, we would much rather be doing other things with our lives.
And I humbly submit that this peaceful, nonviolent nature is part and parcel of our Jewish DNA. It is genetic, inborn, innate. From where did we derive these characteristics? I believe that it is an inheritance and birthright transmitted down the generations from our earliest forebears. Our ancestors bequeathed us these qualities as part of our natural heredity, molded into our very genetic composition.
By nature, are we fighters or philosophers, trappers or thinkers? If we look at our Torah reading this week, Toldot, we read of the birth and early years of the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca, two boys who could not have been more different. Jacob and Esau are the ultimate, classical unidentical twins.
As it says in the portion, “And the boys grew up, and Esau was a trapper (and deceiver), a man of the field (a hunter), while Jacob was honest and straightforward, a dweller in the tents (of Torah).”
Clearly, from the very beginning, Esau was a violent man who, according to commentary, not only hunted animals but also other people’s wives. Jacob was the polar opposite. He was a humble scholar with crime and violence the furthest things from his mind.
For generations, Jews have been blessing their children and grandchildren to emulate the ways of our patriarchs and matriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, Ephraim and Menashe.
Can you even imagine a Jewish father blessing his child, “May you grow up to be like Esau?”
We don’t aspire to have children who are violent hunters. A Jewish hunter is like a gentile shammash (a synagogue caretaker). How many Jewish boxing champions have we had? Compare that with the staggering number of Jewish Nobel Prize winners!
My question today is whether this is still so? Or are the societal values around us today affecting the mindsets of our younger generation?
In my own childhood, our mischievousness amounted to spraying the chazan with water when he finished reciting geshem, the annual prayer for rain. Or hiding the kohanims’ shoes when they went up to recite the priestly blessings in shul. In summer camp, we “raided” the kitchen when we were hungry at night. We weren’t perfect, of course, but our misdemeanors were relatively minor.
And today?
A few years ago, I sadly confess, we experienced an act of deliberate vandalism at our own synagogue. Our own kids had sprayed red paint all over the walls (all that was missing was a swastika). Yes, kids will be kids, but such things were unheard of once upon a time.
Who are our children’s heroes today? Who are their role models? The rabbis, scholars, intellectuals and Nobel Prize winners? Or are we living in a time when thugs are being elevated to the status of superheroes? Or when anyone worth valuing has to hold a weapon as opposed to a pen?
I cannot get my head around the fact that Luigi Mangione—who was indicted on 15 charges, including first-degree murder, and who is facing the death penalty for allegedly murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City—is being celebrated as a folk hero. Polls reveal that younger Americans are less inclined to view him negatively. To me, this is simply unbelievable! Am I really so old-fashioned?
Do our kids respect the “baddest, meanest and toughest?” Do they worship the Stallones, Schwarzeneggers and Stathams of the world? Have our favorite films become those titled “Rambo,” “The Terminator” and “The Beekeeper”?
I’m not so confident that a pair of muggers would respect Shabbat these days. But I pray that our own children do. Let’s make sure the younger set’s role models are the Jacobs of Jewish history and not the Esaus of the world. And may we proudly continue nurturing the higher values embodied in our Jewish birthright and our noble and honorable national character.
