30 Sep HAAZINU: MENACHEM TZION ON “BINU SHNOS DOR V’DOR”

The pasuk
in Parshas Ha’azinu
says, “Remember
bygone days;
understand the years
of each generation;
ask your father and
he will tell you, your grandfather and he
will say it over to you” [32:7]. Even on a
very simple and basic level, this pasuk is
teaching the importance of having an
appreciation for history.
It is very important for us to have an
appreciation for history. If a person has an
appreciation of what was, of tradition, of
what transpired over the years, then he is
capable of dealing with the present. A
person has an obligation to remember and
understand and to try to see the Hand
of G-d (Hashgocha) in history.
When Willaim Shirer wrote his book
“Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” (1959),
he used as an epigraph, a quote from U.S.
philosopher George Santayana: “Those
who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it.” This is a truth. We
must remember history (Zechor Yemos
Olam).
On a simple level, the next words in the
pasuk, which say, “Binu Shnos Dor V’Dor”
[Understand each and every generation],
seem redundant. It appears to be nothing
more than a poetic restatement of the
beginning of the pasuk. On a homiletic
level however, the Menachem Zion offers
a very nice interpretation of this expression.
Yes, we must understand history and learn
the lessons of history and apply them to
our generation, but in addition to that,
“Binu ‘Shnos’ dor v’dor”. The Menachem
Zion explains homiletically that the word
‘Shnos’ is not derived from the word
‘Shana’ [year] but from the word ‘Shoneh’
[different]. The meaning is that you must
understand the changes from one
generation to the next.
We cannot blindly apply the same rules
that worked in the past to present situations.
If you try, you will fall short. Each
generation is different. We cannot glibly
say “That’s the way it was; therefore that’s
the way it has to be”. Binu Shnos Dor
V’dor — learn the lesson of history, but
bear in mind the changes from generation

to generation. Times change,
people change, and circumstances
change. There are times when we
must alter and redirect and not
merely go with what was.
If someone today were to send a
half million troops to the beaches
of Normandy, he would rightly be
called a “meshuganer” [crazy one].
While 60+ years ago there was
indeed a need to fight a battle on
the beaches of Normandy, that
battle is now over; that battle has
already been fought; and that battle has
already been won. We cannot always
continually fight the same battles again and
again.
Understand the changes (‘shnos’) in each
generation. Understand that each
generation has its own set of problems and
own set of rules and own set of
circumstances. We must remember the
days gone by, but couple that remembrance
with an understanding of the changes that
take place in each generation.
In the past, I have quoted the ‘Chassideshe
vort’ of Reb Levi Yitzchak regarding why

Eliyahu HaNavi (rather
than Moshe Rabbenu or anyone else) was
the one designated to resolve all of the
Talmud’s “Teykus” [acronym used by
the Talmud to indicate a question remains
unresolved until Tishbi (Elijah) will
provide the resolution].
The reason, the Berditchever says, is
because Eliyahu never died — he has been
around in all generations. We need
someone who has an understanding of each
generation to pasken the shaylos for that
generation. Therefore, only Eliyahu, who
was present during all generations, is
qualified to resolve the “Teykus”.