24 Dec THE GREATEST THREAT AMERICANS FACE

Ask Americans what
the greatest threat
we face is and you
will get a range of
answers. Some
will say it is global
warming and climate
change. Others think
it is the issue of illegal immigration and
unsecured borders. Still others say it is
the threat of terrorism or a nuclear war.
The truth is it is none of the above.
Our greatest threat is extinction. The
National Center for Health Statistics
reported the total fertility rate in the
United States was 1.62 in 2023. That’s the
lowest rate ever recorded in the United
States and well below the rate needed to
maintain a growing population. Recently,
the EU reported another declining birth
rate, their lowest in 60 years. Many
developed countries’ birth rates are
below the rate needed to maintain and
grow the population. Projections suggest
that by century’s end, a shocking 93% of
countries, including the UK and the US,
will confront underpopulation given the
present trajectory. The statistics seems

clear – extreme birth rate collapse is the
biggest danger to human civilization by
far.
The Jewish people are doing our part with
a birth rate of 1.7 overall, an average of 3.3
for Orthodox Jews, 1.4 for non-Orthodox
Jews, and 6.6 for “Ultra-Orthodox” Jews.
Israel’s birth rate remains the highest
among countries in the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development
and is the forum’s only member state
reproducing above replacement rate.
The Talmud (Shabbos 31a) reports
that each of us will be asked a series
of questions by the heavenly court at
the end of our lives. One of them is
Asakta b’pirya v’rivya, did you occupy
yourself with populating the world? The
Maharsha points out that we will not be
asked whether we fulfilled the mitzvah to
have children, because that is beyond our
control. We will be asked, asakta, were
you oseik, did you take responsibility for
continuity, did you contribute to creating a
better future, irrespective of whether you
had children. The Chochmas Shlomo,
Rav Shlomo Kluger, rules that one can
fulfill the mitzvah of pru u’rvu, to have

children, by caring for children,
even if not biologically their
own. (It goes without saying that
we daven daily that all who want
children and who are waiting
should be blessed with healthy
children who give them nachas.)
One can have no biological
children but still be the proud
progenitor of generations by
living for and being dedicated
towards the future. And one
can have a large biological family but
be entirely consumed with themselves
and their own pleasure, indifferent and
apathetic to creating continuity and to the
next generation.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe and Rebbetzin had
no biological children, but they were the
parents and grandparents of generations,
of worlds of spiritual heirs. Two weeks
ago, over 6,500 rabbis who each see and
feel the rebbe as a father gathered for the
annual Kinus Hashluchim.
As an American, the birth rate collapse
is a genuine concern but as a Torah Jew,
what it reflects about our society is even
more concerning. The world around
us is increasingly more concerned
with the here and now, with pleasure,
comfort, and convenience rather than
in the effort, sacrifice, faith, hope, and
optimism it takes to bring and raise
children in this world. Is it any surprise
that we are suffering from a population
threat when many states have laws that
require insurance companies to cover
birth control while simultaneously
refusing to cover fertility treatments
such as IVF, leaving many couples
with the burden of exorbitant expenses
when trying to have a child privately?
Soon, in Sefer Shemos, we will read
how Moshe Rabbeinu was commanded
to make the boards of the Mishkan out
of shittim wood. Rashi says that the
wood used for the Mishkan came from
special trees that Yaakov Avinu planted
in Egypt. Just prior to his death, he
instructed his children to remove these
trees and take the wood with them
when they left Mitzrayim. Where did
Yaakov get the wood? The Midrash
on Vayigash tells us that on his way
down to Egypt, Yaakov stopped in
Beer Sheva and he gathered cedar
wood that his Zayda, Avraham, had
planted there years earlier. This wasn’t

ordinary wood from ordinary trees. This
was intergenerational. It represented and
reflected the effort, sacrifice, forethought,
and investment of earlier generations.

Are you planting the trees that your great-
grandchildren will be nourished by and

will build their religious lives from? Do
you prioritize building the future over
indulging in the pleasure of the present?
Is Jewish continuity a concern for you
and what are you doing to educate, enrich,
empower, and inspire future generations?
Chanukah begins this week and ironically,
though it is not even a Biblical holiday,
it is perhaps the most observed Jewish
holiday, including by those who would
not define themselves as observant. Rav
Samson Raphael Hirsch writes that the
root of the word Chanukah is chinuch
because at its core, the battle against the
Hellenists was about the continuity of
Jewish identity and who would define
our future..
A couple of years ago, Yeshivas Rav
Yitzchak Elchanon (RIETS/YU)
celebrated the 50th anniversary of Rav
Hershel Schachter Shlita serving as
Rosh Yeshiva. In an interview, he was
asked: “What are you most proud of
accomplishing in these 50 years?” Rav
Schachter responded: “Over this 50-year
period I am most proud of raising together
with my eishes chayil a wonderful family.
To me, that comes way before anything
else I accomplished.”
What is your greatest source of pride?
How do you define success? Do your
calendar and credit card statements
reflect a commitment to the future or
the present, to others or to yourself, to
ensuring our continuity or to prioritizing
the here and now?
This Chanukah, let’s touch our candle to
others to pay the flame forward, to make
our Menorah shine with the light that
illuminates the world.