I recently shared in an especially uplifting celebration of a young man who became a Bar Mitzva. His parents, who hail from the former Soviet Union, after having arrived in America, found their path back to full observance.
The father spoke at the Bar Mitzva and offered the following words.
Thank you all for joining this remarkable Simcha!
As you know, we have come from a country that had no Yiddishkeit, no Torah, and denied the existence of Hashem.
When we came to America, we never dreamed about learning Torah, being Shomrei Mitzvos, and living as proud Yidden.
Our families have not celebrated Bar Mitzvas for more than two generations!
You cannot imagine how thrilled we are that we have merited to raise our son to be a Bar Mitzvah, doing Mitzvos and learning Torah.
We are overwhelmed with gratitude to Hashem for His Hashgacha Pratis that brought us to this day!
THANK YOU, HASHEM!
The audience was very moved by the palpable joy the boy's parents exhibited. What struck me the most was the fact that this boy and his devoted parents were responsible for reconnecting to a tradition that began three thousand three hundred and thirty-seven years ago. A gap of sixty years nearly severed a rich history and tradition of sacrifice and devotion.
This young man represented a vivid link to a remarkable past and the road to a glorious and bright future.
How many of us regale in the realization of our being a vital link in this long chain of greatness? Does it excite you? Do you dance with glee over that privilege? Does that reality infuse you with a vitality in the privileged role you carry?
The Torah reports, "These are the offspring of Aharon and Moshe on the day G-d spoke with Moshe at Mount Sinai… the sons of Aharon… Nadav, Avihu, Elazar, and Isamar." (Bamidbar 3 1-2)
It appears that the children of Aharon were the offspring of Moshe too, as they are introduced as 'the offspring of Moshe and Aharon'.
How is that possible?
Rashi adds, that since Moshe taught these children Torah it is, כאילו ילדו — as if he had 'given birth' to them, and thus his offspring.
But didn't he teach all the people? What was unique about these children that differentiated them from others as 'offspring'?
Rashi adds a few more words: שלמדן מה שלמד מפי הגבורה — because he taught them what he had learned from the Almighty.
What is this emphasis on 'from the Almighty'? Wouldn't it suffice saying he taught over what he had learned? Or just from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, why from הגבורה?
But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children’s children:
The day you stood before your G-d at Chorev, when said to me, “Gather the people to Me that I may let them hear My words, in order that they may learn to revere Me as long as they live on earth and may so teach their children.” (דברים ד ט-י)
The Ramban sees in these verses an injunction to depict to future generations the excitement of the day the Torah was given at Sinai.
'Our eyes and heart shall be focused on that event every moment of our existence.'
Perhaps the intent of this command is to recall the vitality of that exquisite moment in our history that is to infuse life into all our engagement with Torah.
'As long as we live', even 3,337 years later, we must 'live' that moment over and over enthusing our service to G-d with that eternal lifeforce.
Perhaps what Moshe shared with his nephews more than others was that depiction of receiving the Torah, מפי הגבורה — from the Almighty with all the thrilling emotions that entails. Whereas to the rest of the nation he conveyed the exact details of the laws, to the sons of Aharon he infused them with the vividness of that experience, embedding it within their souls, giving an added vivacity to their existence.
That may also explain the accent on כאילו ילדם — as if he gave birth to them, as a mother who brings life to her child, Moshe filled them with the vitality of Torah!
May we each rejoice in the privilege we have in conveying the vibrant message of Har Sinai to our children.
May we never take for granted our role in maintaining our link in the chain of Mesorah.
May our enthusiasm penetrate the hearts of our offspring, reverberating for future generations unto eternity!
באהבה,
חג שמח
צבי יהודה טייכמאן
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