Dear Friends,
We teach our children to listen to their consciences and not to simply go along with the crowd. Why?
The answer may be that we want them to be independent thinkers, to follow a moral compass ingrained within them and that the crowd may commonly be heading astray – in a direction we would not want our children to follow. Those are all worthy answers.
And there is another possible rationale.
We read in the Torah this week, “You shall neither side with the multitude, to do wrong… nor shall you show deference to a poor person in a dispute.” (Exodus 23:2-3).
Interestingly, Torah, in a verse which is, admittedly, difficult to assuredly translate, argues that one should not blindly follow the majority. One is to follow one’s conscience. Hence, the rationale for our encouraging our children to avoid following the crowd could be as simple as it is a command in the Torah.
But there is more. Still – why is this an important lesson to convey to our children and grandchildren?
There is still another vital message. It takes little courage or fortitude to follow the majority or go along with the crowd. However, it does take moral and sometimes even physical courage and will to stand up to a crowd.
Moses demonstrated that courage in facing Pharaoh. So, too did the lone Chinese young man in standing before a tank in Tiananmen Square. Yet, few of us will be in those positions in our lifetimes. More likely, we can take strength from Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, who represented the African-American Tom Robinson at his murder trial in that magnificent novel of Jim Crow America.
In our days, we will encounter and face crowds and groups which, as groups are wont to do, will build their own false righteousness and bully wrongful positions on others who bend to their force. Where was the one police officer who stepped forward to stop the beating and murdering of Tyre Nichols? Where was the one police officer who said, “Let’s Roll,” and save the children of Uvalde, echoing the personal courage of those aboard Flight 93 who crashed in Shenksville, PA, on 9/11? It is frightening and sometimes requires risking relationships, but stepping forward, or stepping out from a group, demonstrates that courage which parents, and Torah, seek to inculcate or command.
Why do we guide children to listen to their consciences? So that they may grow to be moral, ethical, courageous figures who can stand straight before family, neighbors, and God.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
We teach our children to listen to their consciences and not to simply go along with the crowd. Why?
The answer may be that we want them to be independent thinkers, to follow a moral compass ingrained within them and that the crowd may commonly be heading astray – in a direction we would not want our children to follow. Those are all worthy answers.
And there is another possible rationale.
We read in the Torah this week, “You shall neither side with the multitude, to do wrong… nor shall you show deference to a poor person in a dispute.” (Exodus 23:2-3).
Interestingly, Torah, in a verse which is, admittedly, difficult to assuredly translate, argues that one should not blindly follow the majority. One is to follow one’s conscience. Hence, the rationale for our encouraging our children to avoid following the crowd could be as simple as it is a command in the Torah.
But there is more. Still – why is this an important lesson to convey to our children and grandchildren?
There is still another vital message. It takes little courage or fortitude to follow the majority or go along with the crowd. However, it does take moral and sometimes even physical courage and will to stand up to a crowd.
Moses demonstrated that courage in facing Pharaoh. So, too did the lone Chinese young man in standing before a tank in Tiananmen Square. Yet, few of us will be in those positions in our lifetimes. More likely, we can take strength from Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, who represented the African-American Tom Robinson at his murder trial in that magnificent novel of Jim Crow America.
In our days, we will encounter and face crowds and groups which, as groups are wont to do, will build their own false righteousness and bully wrongful positions on others who bend to their force. Where was the one police officer who stepped forward to stop the beating and murdering of Tyre Nichols? Where was the one police officer who said, “Let’s Roll,” and save the children of Uvalde, echoing the personal courage of those aboard Flight 93 who crashed in Shenksville, PA, on 9/11? It is frightening and sometimes requires risking relationships, but stepping forward, or stepping out from a group, demonstrates that courage which parents, and Torah, seek to inculcate or command.
Why do we guide children to listen to their consciences? So that they may grow to be moral, ethical, courageous figures who can stand straight before family, neighbors, and God.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
