One of the hugest things I was raised with is the very important concept of respecting one’s elders.
Yes, I know we all are, but it was like in technicolor, 24/7.
There’s a grandparent in the room? They get the best seat and the most attention.
A parent says something? You hop to it, pronto.
The younger you are, the less honor and veneration you get.
The older you are, the closer you are to the Sinai experience, and therefore, the holier you are – by definition.
Yes, I was a normal child, and didn’t always agree or like the things my parents did. But boy, did I know to be careful with how I expressed that. Not because I was angelic, and not because I was punished or intimidated or anything unhealthy like that, but it was part of the air I breathed that this was a core and central part of being a Jew and a mentsch.
Now I’m trying to raise my kids this way. It’s not always easy, or guaranteed. But the results are priceless. And the only reason it works is because it’s a third party – God. He made up these rules, not me.
There’s the rub, right there.
As you said, not always easy, but in our house this is one of the most important things we teach our children. It also connects to hachnasat orchim. Guests and elders are just about on equal status.
I love it when my step-son sets the table and if we need extra folding chairs he makes sure he takes one for himself and makes sure the guests get the good chairs.
When I heard a rabbi speak about the reasons for respecting elders he said that they have wisdom from having lived longer, but he didn't mention them being closer to Sinai. Do you have a written source for that being the reason? I'd be interested to read that.
Not THE reason, just an additional insight. See here: http://www.shemayisrael.com/parsha/kahn/archives/devarim71.htm. see 8th paragraph.
Sorry I was not clear–I did not mean your were saying it was the only reason. I'd still be interested to see a source for that in a rabbinic text. "A rabbi was once heard to say and somebody wrote it down" is not really such a reliable source in my opinion, especially given the confused and frankly untrue characterization of the science of evolution in that paragraph. At least for the "scientific" part of the statement I'd like to be dan l'kaf z'chut that that's not what the rav really said.
Hmm sarah now ya really got me thinking! The concept I reference is "yeridas hadoros," nicely explained here: http://www.rabbiweisz.com/divrei-torah/dvarim/parshat-hashvuah/. That each generation away from Sinai is generally one degree less spiritual. In terms of written correlation of the two concepts, I don't know, but that may well be my limited scholarship 🙂 In any event, the concepts seem easy to connect logically, whether halachically mandated or not. As far as the Darwinism thing, I think the story works fine without it – take it or leave it.
I noticed that you wrote out the word God rather than using a dash for the o. Is that because this is not printed on paper and cannot be thrown away? What about if someone prints out the blog, then is it an issue? thanks!
Thanks for the link, Ruchi.
LOL that the spelling of God keeps coming up in the comments!
Aish also spells God "God" on their website, by the way.
Sarah and Mindi: it is interesting that this keeps coming up! I do prefer to write it out, and I'm not sure why. It's certainly not a problem onscreen; the only issue is when it's printed. It may be problematic to toss a paper that has "God" spelled out, so some dash it to be sure. My husband says it's preferable to dash it. Very interesting that aish.com does not. Maybe to keep it more readable and relatable (as though God is relatable!).