SHABBAT YITRO 5772

UP THE MOUNTAIN AND THEN DOWN

The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called unto Moses … and Moses went up. [Exodus 19: 20]

Moses ascended and descended the mountain accompanied by (God’s) Covenant with the Patriarchs and the merit of their descendants. [Midrash]

This Midrash pictures Moses trudging up the mountain “accompanied” by God’s covenant with the Patriarchs that privileged “their” descendants. Moses is thus perceived as a transitional figure between a glorious past and a promised vibrant future.

Ascending the mountain is a metaphor for meeting our destiny. It is on this proverbial height that we strive for maturity and insight as we engage in whatever is our life’s work. Even as Moses was accompanied by the patriarchal legacy, we, too, in our ascents are accompanied by those who preceded us, trained us, and mentored us. The challenge is to build on this heritage, to modify it, with the goal of making yesterday’s wisdom  a working model for the next generation. In essence the task before each of us is to fashion a legacy for those who follow us.

The short list for a major executive position had been pared down to two applicants. Each was talented; each had interviewed well; each had sterling references. At the final meeting of the Hiring Committee each candidate was asked how he viewed his mission should he be the one selected. The first one answered that he saw himself as continuing in the footsteps of his talented predecessor. The second responded, “My predecessor was a man of the 20th Century; I perceive myself as a leader of the 21st Century. It was this personal mission that secured the position for him.

Children who follow their parents in the family business find that they are now on top of the proverbial mountain. As often as not, to the dismay of their parents and grandparents, they set into motion changes in the mission, the operation, the functioning of the legacy passed on to them. In due time, however, their legacy, in turn, will be transformed by their successors.

An ongoing tension in contemporary Jewish life is the extent of the influence of yesterdays’ teachings upon a new generation of Rabbis. Is it their role to continue in the footsteps of their predecessors or does a new century, new challenges, new realities demand a re-directed orientation? We can safely assume that Rabbis ordained by the non-orthodox Seminaries perceive themselves as ascending the mountain energized and enriched by the wisdom of the past, but with the understanding  that their role is to descend with new insights and directives to their congregants.

Yet this to some degree is also true in the Orthodox Rabbinate. I recall when a young fifth generation Rabbi embraced a surprisingly flexible posture regarding conversion. He defended his position by saying, "My father was a Rabbi for his generation; I am a Rabbi for my generation.”

A far more vexing issue is the attitude toward Israel by a new generation who were born not after 1948 but after the 1967 war that led to the expansion of settlements in Judea/Samaria. As Daniel Gordis has noted, young rabbis who never experienced the existential crises when we feared that Israel would be overcome by the combined armies of its hostile neighbors, often view Israel through a lens that is quite different from that of their predecessors.

Ascending on the mountain to fulfill one’s destiny is a heady experience. This privilege is accompanied with the responsibility to descend with a legacy that is not totally disconnected from yesterday’s traditions, values, and experiences.

From the holy city of Jerusalem, Rae joins me in wishing all a Shabbat shalom u’mevorach, a Shabbat of peace and of blessing and fulfilling.

Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
Senior Rabbinic Scholar
Ahavath Achim Synagogue
Atlanta, Georgia 30327
February 10, 2012
16 Shevat 5772