Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, zt'l was 85 years old and was travelling from New York to Tel Aviv. His grandson was accompanying him, and every 20 minutes of this 11 hour flight his grandson would ask Rabbi Kamenetsky: "Zaide, can I get you anything to drink? Zaide, can I get you a pillow? Zaide, can I help you...?" Across the aisle on the plane was a member of the Israeli Knesset, a non-religious man whose "religion" was politics. Amazed at the care shown by the grandson for his Zaide, the Knesset member said: "How come your grandson shows you so much love and respect? And how come my grandson does not show me any respect?"

Rabbi Kamenetsky was quick with a reply: "Your grandson believes that man has evolved from apes. Every new generation is therefore further away from their ape ancestors, and therefore sees itself as more knowledgeable, more sophisticated and more advanced than the previous generation. Therefore your grandson sees himself as better and smarter than you. He looks at you as being closer to the apes. If so, he cannot possibly respect you.

My grandson, on the other hand, believes that G-d created man and that He renewed the creation of the world by the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. My grandson sees Mount Sinai as the great moment when G-d taught man that he was more than an ape - that he was a being created in the image of G-d, with a mission to bring chesed (kindness) and morality to the world. My grandson sees me as one step closer than he is to Mount Sinai and so, of course, he respects me. That is why he looks up to me and looks after me.

This true story gives us insight into the meaning of the verse in this week's Sedra:

"Remember the days of old, understand the years of generation after generation. Ask your father and he will relate it to you, your elders and they will tell you." Moses is teaching the Jewish people that the past is crucial for an understanding of the present. We have to seek advice and counsel from our elders because they are closer to the source of Torah than we are. The rest of the world may respect youthfulness and the advancement of technology. We, on the other hand, respect wisdom and eternal values which have their source in Hashem's Torah. Technology does not necessarily lead to a "better" world, as we saw so clearly and tragically in World War II.

When we sit at the Shabbat table and we honour our parents we are fulfilling this verse: "ask your father and he will tell you...". We see our parents and grandparents as part of the chain of Torah values and we look to them for guidance, advice, and Torah wisdom. After all, even we children are links in the chain of Jewish tradition. We receive it from our parents, and one day we will be obligated to teach it to our own children.

Doesn't it make you feel valued and respected that Hashem trusts you to receive and then transmit this tradition? Hashem believes that you can learn good middos from your parents and grandparents - and then teach them to your children. Hashem has such confidence in us - let us rise to the challenge and realise that what we learn at this Shabbat table is part of the transmission of Torah from generation to generation. Hashem is counting on us to learn as much as we can and to pass it on to our own kids when the right time comes. As the saying goes: "Don't keep the faith" ...Pass it on! .