Congregation Beth Shalom

Torah Portion: Vayehi

Book of Genesis
Chaps. 47:20-50:26
Friday, January 6, 2012

What’s wrong with America?  The answer might be found in recent studies comparing the upward mobility of Americans to that of comparable nations.  The project, led by Markus Jantti, an economist at a Swedish university, found that “42 percent of American men raised in the bottom fifth of incomes stay there as adults.”  The studies conclude that a growing percentage of Americans on the bottom rung of society are raising children unable to move up the ladder of American success.  Why?

An article in the New York Times suggests, “One reason for the mobility gap. .may be the unusually large premiums that American employers pay for college degrees.  Since children generally follow their parents educational trajectory, that premium increases the importance of family background and stymies people with less schooling.”  Neither of my parents attended college, nor did the parents of many of my friends.  Yet, we all are college graduates who pursued graduate degrees in various professions?!  

In the concluding Torah portion of the Book of Genesis, Jacob gathers his children and grandchildren to hear his ethical will.  Unlike the legal will, which allocates one’s estate to his/her inheritors, an ethical will is a persons hopes, dreams, and expectations for his/her children.  Jacob informs each son what he expects from him in the years ahead.  “You, O Judah, your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the nape of your foes. .(Gen. 49:8).”  He also challenges his children to take stock of their past in pursuing a future. “Reuben, you are my first-born, My might and first fruit of my vigor, Exceeding in rank and exceeding in honor.  Unstable as water, you shall excel no longer (Gen. 3-4).”  Tough love!

The notion that a child whose parents are less educated and lower on the socio-economic ladder will follow suit does not take into consideration the role of effective parenting.  Rabbi Harold Schulweis once told me that a good upbringing is one in which the child is encouraged to succeed the parent.  Regardless of my mother’s lack of education, her ethical will was certain I went to the right schools, attended the right summer camps, participated in the synagogue youth groups, and set high goals for myself.  I did not follow my parents educational trajectory, but their desire that “my reach should always exceed my grasp.”  

If America’s best days are still ahead, then parents have to instill hope and dreams in their children.  Teachers educate, but parents inspire.

Rabbi Howard Siegel