GEN971 At the outset, it must be pointed out that Judaism extols the proper upbringing of children above all virtues. Indeed, it was this very mitzvah that served as the consideration of the Covenant that was established between Almighty God and Abraham. In the words of the Torah: “Ki y’dativ” – “I love him (says the Almighty of Abraham) for he instructs his sons and his daughters [Some commentators say that bonov has reference to “sons” while beiso refers to “daughters.”] so that they will follow the path of God in practicing righteousness and justice. [this verse]   It should be emphasized that insofar as laws affecting the behavior of women are concerned, a father is just as obligated to teach these precepts to his daughter as he is to teach Torah to his son.   BUILD 11

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GEN989 How are the [educational] roles of father and mother realized? The answer to this question can be found in the verse, “Sh’ma b’ni mussar ovichoh v’al titosh Toras imechoh” Proverbs 1:8 --   Hearken, my son, to the admonition of your father and forsake not the Torah of your mother. We thus see that it is the father who admonishes, disciplines, curbs and tempers and it is the other who imparts Torah inspiration, insight and values. It is the father who admonishes and disciplines in the observance of both the mitzvos between man and God and those between man and man; it is the father who curbs the child’s whims and caprices and inculcates in him an attitude of respect and dignity. And he does this not only thorough explicit and stern verbal admonition – though this method too is important in certain situations – but especially through silent admonition by virtue of the ethical image which he himself furnishes to his child.   It is mentioned in the Torah in connection with Avrohom Ovinu: “For I [God] have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice.” [this verse]   At first glance it seems strange that the Torah uses the expression “Ki y’dativ … v’shomru derech HaShem” – For I have known … that they may know the way of the Lord.” It appears that the expression, “lishmor derech HaShem” (to keep the way of the Lord) would be more appropriate. The answer is that Avrohom Ovinu did not transmit the moral and spiritual values to his descendants through explicit admonition only. Avrohom Ovinu imparted the spiritual heritage to his children by furnishing a sublime living image to his children.   BUILD 23

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GEN1252 [T]here is no such thing as abolishing or wiping clean the slate of unethical behavior. For just as the ethical concepts are eternal so the punishments for their transgression are likewise eternal, for God is eternal and His laws are eternal. There is a price which must be paid for unethical conduct regardless of the circumstances attendant upon such conduct. In the Book of Genesis there is told the story of conflict between the two brothers, Jacob and Esau. They strove one with the other for the blessings of their father Isaac. Jacob outwitted Esau and received the blessings for himself and the people of Israel. His action was necessary and had to be done, but in the doing of it Esau suffered. When Esau learned that Jacob had taken the blessings from him, the Bible tells us, “he cried with a great and bitter cry.” [this verse] A man was hurt; a man had suffered in the course of another man’s duty. Jewish ethics teach us that a cry of human suffering cannot be lost. If a cry of human hurt is heard in the world that cry must be answered, for if it were not answered the concept of justice would be lacking. Justice demands retribution for every wrong, punishment for every injury, comfort for every cry, assuagement for every hurt. Esau had cried a “great and bitter cry.” He had been hurt and his cry must be answered. It does not matter when it is answered, but the people of Israel would have to answer for that cry – and so they did: In the days of Haman, around which the story of Purim revolves, Mordecai, when he heard of Haman’s evil dictates, went out into the city. And the Book of Esther uses the same words which the Book of Genesis uses: Mordecai “cried a great and bitter cry.”   Esther 4:1 Exactly the same cry as Esau’s. The Rabbis tell us that these words are measured; no more, no less. The Jewish people, through Jacob, had caused a hurt in the world. They, in turn, must now feel that hurt, for nothing is lost. No human cry is ever unheard. Justice demands an even balance of all things. This was the even balance. Midrash Rabboh The laws of ethics are often expressed in language which is even more emphatic than that used for the observance of ritualistic practices.   For example, in commanding us to be just, the Bible says, “Justice, justice shalt thou purse.” Deuteronomy 16:20   The word “justice” is repeated. The Bible does not say “Shabbos, Shabbos shalt thou keep.” Nor does it say, “The swine, the swine shalt thou not eat.”  But the Bible states “Justice, justice” – twice – as though to emphasize that there can be no end to the pursuit of justice.   BUILD 208

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GEN1462 Unfortunately, many of our children are deprived of a father image at home – and I do not mean only those children whose fathers are m’chal’lei Shabbos, violators of the Sabbath, or do not observe kashrus and taharas hamishpochoh – they are deprived of a father image simply because in their homes, and this includes even some religious homes, there is not the atmosphere of idealism and of a yearning and an aspiration toward things that soar above the mundaneness of the toil and moil of life. This is the main reason why youngsters today are in revolt against everybody and everything, why so many Jewish children become hippies, or beatniks. [Published in 1975 – AJL]   So many of us ascribe to youth all the responsibility and guilt for youth’s revolt and impetuosity without realizing that many times the parents themselves are more at fault than the youngsters for youth’s unrest and rebellion, in that they have failed to instill moral fibre in the hearts of the children by not providing the kind of atmosphere at home to inspire them toward things that soar above the mundaneness and the vulgarities and the profanities of life.   In regard to the verse, “V’habor raik, ein bo moyim” [this verse] – and the pit was empty, there was no water in it, our Sages say: “There was no water in it; however, it was full with serpents and scorpions” This Rabbinic comment is based upon a well-known scientific principle; namely, that “nature abhors a vacuum.” Hence the Torah, when said “v’habor reik – and the pit was empty,” could not have meant that it was void of everything for nature abhors a vacuum. If it was not filled with water, then it must have been full with serpents and scorpions. This scientific principle, namely that nature abhors a vacuum, is as true in the psychological realm as it is in the physical realm. Human nature too abhors a vacuum. Either a father ills us the spirit of his child with spiritual and ethical norms and aspirations or he invites spiritual and emotional scorpions to penetrate the heart of the child.   The only way for principals and teachers to inspire the children in our Day Schools so that they dill not join, when they grow up the ranks of the revolting youngsters is by supplying a sublime father image to the children. If the principals and teachers will consistently and scrupulously furnish a father image to the school children then there will be a spiritual and moral content in their lives and they will not be disposed to conjure up the idols of new morality, immorality and amorality. However, the fulfillment of the father role by the principal and the teacher of the Day School constitutes only one of the two functions incumbent upon a rebbe. For the other function incumbent upon a rebbe is the fulfillment of the mother role.  The mother role is realized through the Torah she imparts to the child, as it is written, “V’al titosh Toras imechah”  Proverbs 1:8 – Forsake not the Torah of your mother. Obviously, a mother does not impart Torah through instruction in books or through intellectual reasoning. The mother imparts the purely practical aspects of Torah, the inculcation of ethical qualities, through tender, tolerant, and sympathetic guidance. And so it should be with the rebbe.  Both the father image and the mother image have to be furnished by the Yeshiva teacher so that the child may be enduringly motivated by the concept of the dignity of man and of man as a being who was created in the image of God and by the concepts of love of God, love of Torah, love of Israel and love of mankind.   BUILD 24-5

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GEN1504 Let us remind ourselves of the episode of Joseph and the wife of Potiphar – that critical moment in the drama of Joseph which bestowed upon him, for eternity, the title of Tzaddik (the righteous one). What was it which turned Joseph into Yoseph HaTzaddik? In his attempt to prevail upon Potiphar’s wife, he sought to impress upon her the fact that he had been entrusted with great responsibility by Potiphar, her husband. To acquiesce to her wishes would therefore be a breach of faith and trust. His appeal, then was one of ethical conduct and behavior. But he added, “How then, can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” [this verse]. Ethical conduct is void of content if it does not stem from the fear of God.   It is this fear of God which is the motivating force of moral and ethical conduct in human affairs.  When this motivation is removed, society becomes permeated with the lusts, the temptations, and the forms of vice prevalent today.   To flee from reality in the hallucinations of LSD becomes part of the cultural milieu of modern society. [Published in 1975 – AJL] The element of “chotosi leilokim” (I have sinned towards God) converts the lust and urge to sin into an insatiable thirst for holiness.   BUILD 5-6

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GEN1568 When Jacob was told by his sons that Joseph was still alive, he at first had some misgivings as to whether it was the same Joseph he knew and remembered who was still alive. Jacob realized that Joseph had all the psychological reasons for bitterness, resentment and revolt against his father’s home, and that, psychologically speaking, it would have been most natural for Joseph to have forsaken all the spiritual and moral values in his father’s heritage and to have adopted the then-new morality, immorality and amorality of a pagan Egypt which had recognized and elevated him while his own brothers had betrayed him.   Nevertheless, Jacob did not doubt the veracity and truthfulness of his son’s statement. When he beheld all the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him and his family to Egypt in love and in respect, when he saw that Joseph still adhered to the concepts of chessed, hat he had imparted to him while he was till sitting at his feet, then Jacob became convinced that it was the same Joseph who was still alive, that Joseph had been able to maintain his spiritual and moral identity, that Joseph had not deviated even one iota from the moral values in his father’s tradition, and that Joseph throughout the years of exile, bondage and excruciating anguish had not born any bitterness, resentment or hostility to his brothers and to his father’s home. How did such maintenance of spiritual and moral identity in the face of so many adverse psychological factors and contrary to all laws of psychology come about? The answer is that Jacob was able to maintain the loyalty of Joseph through the father image that he, Jacob, had furnished and implanted into the mind and heart of Joseph. Jacob had been able to implant this father image into the mind and heart of Joseph by impressing upon the heart and mind of Joseph the ethical message and concept inherent in the law of egloh arufoh. The law of egloh arufoh is based upon the concepts that man, as a being created in the image of God, is to be treated with respect and consideration regardless of his station in life and his moral caliber, even if he appears to be a vagabond and a criminal.   BUILD 26

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