Rabbi Howard Morrison

Towards the end of the Ten Plagues, Pharaoh asks Moses, "Who exactly is going to leave from Egypt?" Moses clearly exclaims, "With our young and with our old we go forward." Moses' response speaks not only to his particular circumstance but for all time.

When Jewish communties focus only on the elderly or only on the young, we are destined to fail. We need to support both demographics at the same time. One actually benefits and reinforces the other. The young benefit from the experience, perspective, and advice of the old. The elderly benefit from the vitality, zest, and idealism of the youth. 

In congregational life, this ideal is always relevant. The successful synagogues invest in and appreciate the partnership of young and old. Beth Emeth boasts of many multi-generational families where the demographics of grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren celebrate Jewish life regularly. Even single generational families can benefit from Moses' teaching by ensuring that young people get to really know older members of the community, and that older members get to really know younger members of the community.

It is noteworthy that this coming Tuesday, January 27, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I did not grow up with survivor parents or grandparents. At a young age, my parents had me and my three siblings get to really know Holocaust survivors in our community. One man in particular was named Joseph Boniafca, who was a regular attendee at my childhood shul. For many years, I knew his story and even the number which had been branded on his skin. My parents understood what it meant for a child to know the older members of our congregation, and especially the survivors of the Shoah.

And so - the message of Moses to Pharaoh is a message for all of us, "With our young and with our old we go forward."

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Howard Morrison