My Weekly Drash (a mini D'var Torah) - Ha'azinu
Posted by Daniel M. Kimmel on October 10, 2008 | Tags:
Just a little politics – and non-partisan at that. Have you ever noticed how politicians only want to talk about the past if it makes them look good (or their opponents bad)? In 2000 the last thing Al Gore wanted to discuss was Bill Clinton’s peccadilloes in office. At the recent vice presidential debate Sarah Palin professed to be upset that Joe Biden wanted to talk about eight years of President Bush when she wanted to focus on the future. It’s natural, but as Jews we know that the past is not so easily dismissed. We invoke the merits of our ancestors when we know we have failed to measure up, and we are enjoined to teach our children our history and to learn it ourselves. “Remember the days of old, consider the years of ages past,” Moses says in the poem that makes up Parshah Ha’azinu. “Ask your father, he will inform you; your elders, they will tell you.” (Deut. 32:7). We can’t know where we’re going if we don’t know where we came from, whether it’s that we were once slaves in Egypt or that what we have achieved has been with God’s help. The Clinton campaign theme back in 1992 was “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.” The Torah says we have to think about yesterday as well.
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Daniel M. KimmelJoined: October 2, 2007 Daniel M. Kimmel is a Boston area film critic, lecturer and author. He does these weekly mini-lessons for the Mishkan Tefila Brotherhood's newsletter. You are free to use them for similar purposes. Divrei Torah (117) |
