Rabbi Mushkin of Young Israel expounds on the role of the individual as well
as the community on the respect and maintenance of traditions for our youth. He
takes on verse from this week’s Parasha, explaining the intriguing and
informative change of register in the verse:
"And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up." (Deuteronomy 11: 19)
In the first part of the verse, “ye shall teach”, this verse commands many,
telling them to teach their children the laws which the Lord laid down for his
people. The rest of the verse switches the register to singular, in which Rabbi
Mushkin’s grandfather argued that the mandate to teach the Lord’s precepts
depends on every one of us. We cannot hide in collective anonymity regarding
this intense and involved responsibility of training our youth.
School districts across the state of California should take heart by taking
this verse to heart. It is not the exclusive responsibility of teachers,
administrators, and school district officials to train today’s youth. Parents
must be involved, and in many cases they want to be. Because of language
barriers or a lack of skills or insecurity, they simply do not know how. Despite
the immense challenges which face raising children in the current age of
I-technology and social autism, parents, community mentors, individuals of all
stripes and ranks must invest themselves in passing on the values, mores, and
traditions that make a free people possible.