QUESTION
When you study Gemara, you see there are so many conditions for a ben sorer u’moreh that a Sage declared that ‡נבר ‡ול היה ‡ל – it never happened (ibid. 71a). So the question is, according to him, why is it in the Torah if it couldn’t happen?
ANSWER
And the answer is, it’s written so it shouldn’t happen. Little boys in the cheder when they read that parsha they acquire yiras Shamayim. Little boys are afraid. It’s important! Everyone should read it and be afraid and know that bad character like stealing and then using the money to spend on nosherai is going to end up in disaster. And that parsha has helped so many Jewish boys be good that it has earned its place in the Torah.
The model itself is of extreme importance. That’s why it’s so important to learn. And Jewish boys who learn Chumash in the cheder are entirely different from anybody else. Besides the instruction they get in the house, which is important – parents should always teach children good things – but the Torah is a model for good behavior.
And so the ben sorer u’moreh, because it’s written in the Chumash, has been a source of good middos throughout all history, for generations of children. And therefore, not only they didn’t die zakai, they lived zakai. They continued to live like tzaddikim as a result of this parsha.
November 1988
