Weekly On-line Rabbi's D'var-Torah
August 22, 2024
18 Av 5784
Parashat Eikev
Last night, political junkies who were willing to stay up late got to meet Gus Walz—the 17-year-old son of the Democratic nominee for vice president. Upon seeing his father Tim giving a speech at the Democratic National Convention and hearing his own name called out by his father, Gus proudly screamed, “That’s my dad!” and started crying. He was still teary-eyed when he joined his father on the stage at the end of the speech.
Needless to say, seeing a 17-year-old boy crying in public elicited many different responses from people across the country. Those responses tell us more about the people than about Gus himself. Apparently, even in the year 2024—over 50 years after “Free to Be... You and Me”—a crying 17-year-old boy symbolizes a lack of masculinity, strength, and maturity according to some.
If that were the end of the story, it would be enough to prove that we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to teaching our kids about what it means to be an adult in this world. However, the story doesn’t end there. It turns out that Gus has had to deal with a number of challenges in his life. He has ADHD, along with a nonverbal learning disorder and an anxiety disorder. The Walz family reminds us that not all disabilities are visible.
Without knowing anything about Gus Walz before last night, a whole army of social media warriors started posting horrible things about this young man in an effort to derail the political aspirations of his father. Needless to say, it’s a terrible approach to politics and a terrible approach to being a human.
In contrast, when previously speaking about their son’s challenges, Tim and Gwen Walz issued the following statement: “It took time, but what became so immediately clear to us was that Gus’s condition is not a setback—it’s his secret power.”
The truth is that most people come to feel the same way as the Walzes when they get to know someone like Gus. I’ve seen it with my son Jonah. It’s only when one sits behind a computer screen hundreds of miles away that it seems reasonable to attack a young man.
In this week’s Torah portion, Moses challenged the Israelites to “walk in God’s ways.” That is a tough thing to do. After all, how exactly does God walk, and how can we emulate it?
The ancient rabbis answered this question by turning to two other verses in the Torah. In Exodus 34:6-7, we learn some of God’s attributes: “gracious and compassionate, patient, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, assuring love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and granting pardon.” Therefore, the rabbis concluded, just as God is gracious and compassionate, we must be gracious and compassionate. Just as the Holy One is faithful, we must be faithful. As the Holy One is loving, we must be loving.
Gus Walz probably had no idea that a camera was recording him last night as he watched his father on the stage. However, the presence of a young man with challenges at the heart of a political convention is an opportunity.
It’s an opportunity to learn how to walk in God’s ways.
Shalom,
RAF.
Comments