Weekly Torah Portion

My wife Meira’s grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. Through her loving and easy-going nature, she had the ability to bring a smile to the people she came in contact with and build up and encourage those around her. She was a regal and dignified woman whose overall essence and impact is too great to capture in just a few lines. I would like to focus on just one broader aspect of her loss and what it means to my family.

Rita Schreiber was the last of our (Meira’s and mine) eight grandparents to pass away (of the blood relatives; we have one step-grandmother with whom we are thankful to have such a close relationship still). A whole generation we knew, grew from, learned from, and who influenced us so deeply are no longer physically present. While we continue to learn from their lives, unfortunately, our grandparent generation has moved from the present to the past.

That generation lived through the Holocaust and the birth of the State of Israel. Whether born in Germany, Poland, New York, or Seattle, each of our grandparents lived with a mission of growing from the ashes. With families obliterated, Jewish communities destroyed, and a lack of Jewish schools and education in America, their generation was charged with rebuilding Jewish communities and building a homeland for our nation. Our parents’ generation lived the dream that their parents worked so hard to create and then passed it on to us.

Rabbi Moshe Taragin, in a recent Jerusalem Post article, writes “Being part of the ‘third’ generation is difficult. The first generation innovates. The second generation consolidates. The third generation often squanders the achievements of the previous two. It is never easy being third.”

He explains that Avraham innovated monotheism, Yitzchack was locked into these ideas and lived them, while Yaakov was tasked with upholding these ideals despite many struggles and potential apathy. He succeeded. On the other hand, our Monarchical dynasty started with King David, followed by King Solomon, and, come the third generation, our people and Monarchy were split apart.

Living in Israel, Rabbi Taragin describes three generations of Israelis. The first generation were pioneers and defended our homeland, the second built an economic superpower and, both physically and spiritually, returned many Jews from across the globe to their homeland. And, prior to a few months ago, the third generation seemed to follow the path of our Monarchy – splitting into a fractured people.

However, the current war resolved our doubts, and we are united and prepared to sacrifice for our homeland and for our people. With my wife’s grandmother’s passing and the last of eight grandparents, the question I am still asking myself is: what about America’s third, post-Holocaust generation? Do we have a strong enough Jewish identity to fight off the struggles that we currently face? Or have we grown too comfortable in our lives that we are succumbing to third generation syndrome?