Before I begin this week’s Divrei Simcha, I would like to write two things:

1) Please forgive me for not writing a Divrei Simcha these past two weeks. I am happy to say that my wife gave birth to a baby boy! Therefore, I have been running around all over preparing the house for the addition and making preparations for a Bris. I, therefore, did not have time to write Divrei Simcha these past two weeks.

2) Also, as Yom Kippur approaches, please forgive me if I have upset you in any way. If I have offended you in any way, please let me know so that I may properly do tshuvah (repentance) for the sin I have done.

And now onto our main event:

“Remember the days of the world. Understand the years of the generations. Ask your father and he will tell you; Ask your elders and they will speak to you.” – Devarim 32:7

July 21, 2007, was one of the most important days last summer, because on that day, the world finally found out what happened to a boy in his quest to defeat one of the worst people the world has ever seen. On this day, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released, which was the seventh and final book about Harry Potter and his fight against Voldemort. I’m assuming by now you have all heard the ending: Seventeen year old Harry Potter with his two teen aged friends beat the evil Voldemort and the Death Eaters, making millions of people around the world happy. Personally, I enjoyed reading the Harry Potter series, but there is one message at the ending that really bothers me. This message is not only in seen in the final book of this series, but unfortunately, is very common in the world around us. The message is that teenagers and young adults are the ones that can get rid of the evil in this world. Harry Potter, Hermoine Granger, and Ron Weasley, (all teenagers) were able to do something that the old, wise Professor Dumbledore could not do. The heroes are not the older, more experienced adults of the Order of the Phoenix, but the young, high school drop-outs.

A few years ago, I bought an MP3 player so I could listen to Torah lectures when I am driving or walking. I followed the instructions that can with it and tried to start downloading to the player, only to find out that I was unsuccessful. I asked several people who have worked with computers or electronic devices for numerous years if they could help me out. They said I should ask their children for help. The teenagers are the ones we should go to for advice! This is what the world is coming to: ask the teenagers or young adults to take care of our problems. The younger generation can fix anything.

This is not the Torah way though. There is a very interesting halacha (Jewish law) that is brought down by the Rema (Rav Moshe Isserles – lived in the 16th Century) relating to Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. He states that when we choose a person to lead us in davening during the Ten Days of Repentance, a congregation should choose a person that is at least 30 years old. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch writes a reason for this: because his youthfulness has cooled off. He is now more mature and does not run after the silly desires of his heart that he did as a younger person. Younger people have cravings after things that are not important. For example, I know of one Rabbi who said that when he was a child, he had a desire to own a slingshot. He was very upset that his parents never got him one. Now imagine that Rabbi came to his wedding day and his parents presented him with his greatest desire as a wedding gift: a slingshot. He would be so upset because he has outgrown this youthful desire. As people grow older they realize that the things they desired as children were so unimportant. There are so many other important things in life that these desires mean nothing in the later years.

This is why halacha states we need someone who is no longer a youth to lead the davening during these Days of Awe. Our life is in suspense: who will live and who will die? Who do we want leading us in our davening? Do we want someone who knows what is important or do we want someone whose greatest desire is to have backstage passes to a Green Day concert? Do we want someone that knows what family life is or someone who spends most of his time with people he calls friends on Facebook?

Harry Potter can be a hero in the fictional world of Hogwarts, but the real heroes in Judaism are those with experience. The elders of our community, who have seen what life is and know what is important, are the people that can teach us how to get rid of the evil in the world. Ask your father and he will tell you. Ask an elder and he will explain it to you. They are the ones that a person should go to for advice.

When we stand to daven on Yom Kippur, we should remember to think like our elders and not like teenagers. When we daven, let’s daven for what is actually important and what we actually need during this coming year!

Gmar V’chasima Tova! May we all have a happy, healthy New Year that is full of joy and happiness for all!
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