If we descended from apes, and are evolving all the time from ape to man, then surely you will agree that ‘tis absurd to expect respect from the youth. Why, if they are one more generation evolved than their elders, should they honor and respect them? If anything, the ape-like elders should hold their descendants in the highest esteem, not the reverse.
But since in fact we descended from saintly ancestors, men and women who would put our humanity to shame with the greatness of their stature, the brilliance of their souls and the enormity of their intelligence and sensitivity, then surely you will agree that as time moves on, today should honor yesterday and tomorrow will be expected to honor today.
Nu? Makes sense, no?
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Who has had the longest life in history?
If you measure by days, months and years, the answer would be Methuselah who lived 969 years. But if you measure by influence, the story is quite different.
The truest measure of a person’s quality and energy is how profoundly he changes his environment. To bear influence by the force of your presence is hardly change at all. Like the game red-light, green-light, if all your achievements crumble the moment you look away, you haven’t caused any change at all. To know whether someone has wrought change, see if their impact outlives their body. If a man passes away and his influence continues unabated, he has truly lived and truly changed the world.
And thus, upon a good person’s demise, their life begins. Their physical existence vanishes and the LIFE they created begins. All their deepest thoughts, feelings, visions and dreams find room to bloom and blossom when their corporal shell has been retired. After a lifetime of molding and fashioning life, the finished product is wrapped up and bequeathed to the next generation to realize.
When a person’s children live his legacy, he is really and truly, in every sense of the lofty word, Mamesh alive. More than ever!
We do not believe in death after life.
It is not so strange then that Yitzchak’s life-story (this week’s Torah portion) is titled “Sarah’s Life.” We all live our parents’ lives; and our children will live ours.
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And that is how you honor yesterday. Knowing that we are flying on our ancestors’ wings, giving breath to their dreams and acting as the executors of their deepest will, we are a testament to their goodness and living tributes to the eternity of their souls.