Bill Clinton Is Father Of The Year

1/14/2013

Bill Clinton is Father of the Year! Now that is a shock. This is by no means a statement that Mr. President is not a good father. On the contrary, There are so many images of Mr Clinton with his daughter demonstrating love and support for each other. I have no reason to believe that he is anything but a loving father to his daughter Chelsea while being an adulterous husband to her mother. And just because someone is clearly not a faithful husband does not mean that they can not be a good father. However, Bill Clinton is far from a model image of what a person should aspire to be like and that is what honor should be about. This is precisely because these actions are an integral part of what it means to be not just a parent or husband but a decent human. His repeated escapades with women that became so public and certainly caused incredible pain to Hillary should have been enough to disqualify him from this accolade. To designate an honor such as this that should require a certain level of integrity and character that goes beyond the isolated task at hand. If a charitable organization were honoring a donor for his contributions and commitment to their cause who was an embarrassment to the community because of his character we would be appalled. Father of The Year is of even greater severity. The only reason that some are not is because we have desensitized ourselves to the depravity of society. We have convinced ourselves that we are able to separate character from accomplishment. This is the same attitude that prompted people to defend Mr Clinton during his presidency regarding the whole Lewinsky affair with the statement "what difference does it make what he does in his private life, as long as he is doing a good job as president". Now while that may be true regarding his accomplishments as president, it is far from the truth when it comes to the impact he made on society. If our leaders are able to live outside the parameters of a moral basis then there is no reason individuals shouldn't follow suit. When we choose who we honor we are elevating those individuals to a place of aspiration. We inevitably look to them to set our sites on what we hope to become. Therefore we must choose people that not only have accomplished great tasks but have cultivated their character as well. Had Mr Clinton shown any demonstration of remorse and contrition that might have deemed him worthy of such accolades yet that has not been the case. So while one may say that he could have done an excellent job as President and an amazing performance so far as a loving parent the title of Father of the Year should have gone to a more worthy recipient.

3 Comments

1/14/2013 04:00:53 am

Rabbi, YOU should be father of the year. We all know there is one, and ONLY one Ahuva ;-)

Brian Polonsky

1/14/2013 05:56:56 am

W.O.W aka Words of Wisdom as always from you, great lesson to be learned!

Anon

1/14/2013 04:05:58 pm

One of the biggest misconceptions within society, as you eloquently pointed out Rabbi, is equating our actions with our essence. In Western society, where the American Dream is defined by a qualitative success, it is the inevitable logical outcome. The Westren world defines us by our careers rather than our character; by our external gestures rather than our internal identity. In many ways, this quantitative definition of success is the reason why happiness is seen as a reaction to the events in our lives rather than a choice and commitment.

In life it is not only about what you do but who you are. To equate man's actions to his essence is to relegate man to the level of animal. That is, it is only the animal whose essence exhausts itself and thus reflects itself in its behavior. There is nothing else to an animals identity either than its actions. As such, one gains insight into the nature of animal by observing.

Not so for the human! Lurking within every human beings actions is a deep mystery that cannot be fathomed. You can watch a man from the time he wakes in the morning till the time he falls asleep at night; you can observe him at work, with his wife, with his kids, and yet, at the end of the day with all your intense observation still know nothing about him. He remains an enigma that can't even be solved by himself but can only be solved by G-d Himself.

In short, to suggest that man can be understood by his behavioral patterns is to suggest that a book can be judged by its cover. Beyond every man's actions there is an immensely captivating story waiting to be discovered.

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