A wise man once told me that good pedigree, or yichus, is worth a bunch of zeros.
When I looked at him quizzically, he explained, “If you put a “1” before them, they are worth something. If not, they are worthless.”
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All jokes about lineage aside, let’s ask an honest question. Does Judaism discount pedigree out of hand? It certainly appears not to be the case. In our prayers, we implore G-d to remember the righteous deeds of our ancestors. We incessantly mention the sacrifice of the Matriarchs and Patriarchs. We give ritual honors and gifts (and responsibilities) to the Kohanim (priests) who have done nothing to earn them other than being born into the ‘right’ family.
It seems pretty clear that Jewish tradition considers our heredity critical to who we are and where we stand.
On the other hand, we are taught that nothing stands between ourselves and G-d. Even the most nameless Jew can achieve greatness. In fact, Judaism is perhaps the only faith that doesn’t solicit converts – precisely because we believe that G-d created every person with perfect potential.
I’m reminded of the story about young boy named Dovber, whose house burned to the ground. His widowed mother cried as she looked at the last of their possessions charred beyond recognition. “I’m not crying because we lost our clothing or furniture,” she explained. “That we can replace. I’m weeping over the loss of our irreplaceable illustrious family tree.”
“Don’t worry, mother,” the boy said soothingly. “I promise that a new, illustrious lineage will begin with me.”
Dovber grew up to be the Maggid of Mezritch, successor of the Baal Shem Tov and teacher of Rabbi Schneur Zalman, founder of Chabad.
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A thoughtful view on this week’s parsha, Balak, may offer some insight.
Balak, the anti-Semitic monarch of Moav, hires Bilaam, a genuine non-Jewish prophet, to curse the Jewish people. G-d reluctantly allows Bilaam to go, so long as he is faithful to the word of G-d.
In order to ‘entice’ G-d to curse the Jews, Bilaam acts with alacrity, saddles his own donkey and offers many sacrifices to G-d. It’s evident from his behavior that he is endeavoring to ‘outdo’ the founding fathers of Judaism. By offering more offerings than them, his not-so-subtle message is that he is spiritually superior.
His agenda is simple. He recognizes that the Jewish people possess a large stockpile of credit. The earliest Jews were sacred figures who went against the tide and brought awareness of G-d to the world. It’s going to be hard to curse the Jews. Even if they are unworthy, the merit of their grandparents will save them.
So, his first order of business is to destroy the foundation on which they stand, to uproot their credit from under their feet. This he attempts to do by demonstrating superiority over the Matriarchs and Patriarchs.
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Ultimately, his plan fails. Instead of cursing the Jewish people, he blesses them – three times! Some of the most powerful prophecies and descriptions of the Jewish people emerge from Bilaam’s mouth.
For example, Bilaam tells of the fabulous times of Moshiach.
Also included in his prophecy are the famous words of our morning prayers, “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!”
Largely absent from his blessings are mention of the Matriarchs and Patriarchs. They are cited, but his primary focus is on the present and the future of the Jewish people. He praises their present conduct and sees a long, bright future for the people of Israel.
Certainly, we could rely on Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov; Sara, Rivka, Rachel and Leah to carry us on their shoulders. Tapping into our ‘line of credit’ would barely make a dent in the nearly endless supply of merit.
But, Bilaam saw that we didn’t need to revert to our line of credit. We had – and we currently have – so much inherent good.
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Our rich history and holy forbearers have provided ‘zeros’ aplenty. It’s our job to add some numbers in front!