Oh, Baby
I am sitting to write this from my daughter’s apartment in Israel. Despite the fact that it feels like it was just yesterday that she was 6 years old and watching Dora the explorer, my daughter just gave birth to her first child. Somehow the time has flown by and I am now the father of a child who gave birth to a child (that’s a roundabout way of saying I am now a grandfather but I am still trying to come to grips with my new title).
We came to Israel for the bris which took place on Monday. Everything went smoothly, thank G-d, and it was with a wild range of emotions that I stood there witnessing the induction of another individual into the Jewish nation.
Adding to the expected emotions was the fact that a mere 8 hours after the bris I began the commemoration of the yahrtzeit of my dear mother, of blessed memory, who passed away 9 years ago.
I was struck by the contrast of life-cycle events occurring within such short proximity of each other. To attend the bris of my first grandchild (phew, that didn’t sound so bad!) and watch a new branch of my family tree come into being, then to go straight to observing and remembering the passing of the generation before me and reflect on my mother’s life and the deep influence she had on me (and on everyone who came in contact with her) was very profound. It was a reflection on the past and a peek into the future, all in one day. It brought to mind the teaching of King Solomon – “A generation has passed, a generation has come.”
Talk about a roller coaster of emotions!
As I write this article with the new baby lying next to me and his soft breathing exuding calmness and serenity, I am filled with thoughts of blessings and good wishes for this new child.
Foremost on my mind is the wish that he carries on the legacy left by his great-grandmother and his other wonderful great-grandparents, and continued by his grandparents and wonderful parents, to create a new beautiful link in this chain called the Jewish people. But more than just good wishes, are there instructions or methods which I can impart to him? Indeed there are.
Today I had the good fortune to attend the largest yeshiva in Israel, if not the entire world – the Mir yeshiva in Jerusalem. This yeshiva has several thousand college-age boys and married men dedicating their lives to the pursuit of Torah study. I went to observe the scene as it is something that always inspired me and also to witness the growth the institution has experienced in the 2 decades since my days as a student in Israel.
I walked into one of the study halls - there are approximately 20 different study halls in several different buildings spread over a several block radius - and was blown away by the intensity and dedication of these students. In the particular study hall that I walked into were gathered approximately 700 men engaged in the most hallowed of Jewish rituals – the study of G-d’s word. Unlike a library where silence is preferred, if not mandatory, in a yeshiva study hall the sound of learning echoes and reverberates throughout the room like the hum of a locomotive.
The Talmud explains that this is the ideal manner with which to study as Torah, as not a mere subject of academia, but rather the living word of G-d’s instructions to His people. As such it needs to be studied with fervor.
Experiencing a week filled with moving moments, witnessing the yeshiva in action was yet another powerful experience for me. One of the themes that pervade Israeli society and Jews in general, is the importance of perpetuating Judaism to the future generations. Many theories and recommendations are posited by all types of historians and scholars but there is only one that has stood the test of time – the study of Torah. Nothing else can hold a candle to that method.
History has shown that that those communities that established Jewish day schools in the nascence of American Jewry have continued to burgeon into Jewish communities while those that did not have dwindled.
So my little grandson, as you embark on your journey called life I bless you with all the love in my heart. May you choose to lead a life that revolves around the study and observance of Torah with the knowledge that it is the most effective tool in preserving Jewish continuity. May G-d grant me many years on this earth to enjoy with you, to watch you grow, to spoil you as grandparents are entitled to, to spend time with you – talking, studying and joking together, and to watch you blossom into all the potential that G-d is gifting you with.
Last, but certainly not least, may you grow up to be a source of pride to G-d, your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great grandparents and to the entire Jewish nation.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Koval
