Lamentations: First Kinah – Lines 27 – 28 Part Two

“Young men bear the millstone, because they were found in the harlot’s house.” The literal meaning of the stanza also speaks to this issue. I believe that there is no area in Jewish law that feels as weighty as the laws dealing with our sexual lives.

This is especially true, as we said earlier, in our generation. Our children must understand why these laws are so important for them especially when they see the world around them living and succeeding without all of the impositions of Halachah. 

When we simply insist on observance without explaining their benefits in relevant terms we are ensuring that our children feel that all the laws are nothing more than a heavy burden. How is a child supposed to feel about never speaking to a member of the opposite sex if he or she does not understand the positive impact on their lives? There is a very direct correlation between the heavy millstones and sexual sins.

The Mitzvot, by definition, should provide a Jew with a sense of dignity. The Jews who derived no dignity from their spiritual lives lost their dignity in prison. They may have been very beautiful, but their beauty was used in gross ways by their masters.