[Avodah] “Honor your father and your mother, lest you be punished through your children!”

[Professor L. Levine]

The following is from RSRH's commentary on Bereishis 9:24


24 When Noach awoke from his wine, he learned what his youngest
son had done to him.


Nevertheless, it is shocking that Noach curses Cham through his

child. This constitutes a serious warning: “Honor your father and your
mother, lest you be punished through your children!” Cham must not
sin against Noach, lest he be punished through Canaan! Sins that children
commit against their parents will be punished by the manner in
which their own children, in turn, will deal with them!

The same rule applies in the development of the generations. The
younger generation must stand reverently at the grave of the generation
that preceded it. It must take a garment and cover the nakedness, the
weakness, of its forebears, and at the same time receive from them their
spiritual legacy, so as to build its own future. Only then will the generations
develop like a flourishing tree. But if the new generation gloats,
like Cham, over the “nakedness” of its ancestors; if it sees only their
human frailties and derides their spiritual tradition; if the sons scornfully
sever the bond with the generation of the fathers — then their
own future, too, is only a dream: Just as they sneered at the memory
of their forefathers, so will their own descendants sneer at them. Cham
is always the father of Canaan!

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20181019/015905e3/attachment.html>