Devarim 32:7-12, 32:44-47
Ask Your Father
Moshe urges the people to ask their fathers and elders, and to command their children to keep the Torah.
זְכֹר יְמוֹת עוֹלָם בִּינוּ שְׁנוֹת דֹּר־וָדֹר שְׁאַל אָבִיךָ וְיַגֵּדְךָ זְקֵנֶיךָ וְיֹאמְרוּ לָךְ׃
Devarim 32:7
Remember the days of old, consider the years of generation after generation. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will tell you.
- What it teaches
Passing on the tradition. Receiving the tradition from parents and elders and passing it on to the next generation.
In these verses the tradition does not pass on by itself: you ask your father and your elders, you listen to them and you hand the words on to your children. It passes from person to person. And Moshe says these words are no empty thing: they are the people’s very life.
- The lesson
- Every generation stands in the middle, asking the one before and handing on to the next.