Steve Paikin: Steve Paikin: Retired at 102, Rabbi Baskin still seen as a teacher in Hamilton and beyond
Bernard Baskin was born in New York but came to Hamilton in the 1940s, assuming that community would be a stepping-stone in a rabbinical career that would eventually take him back to his native United States.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the synagogue. Baskin and his wife, Marjorie, fell in love with the steel city and raised their kids there. Baskin's temporary assignment" at Temple Anshe Sholom in Hamilton lasted 40 years. He ended up residing in the Hammer for 60 years before eventually moving to a seniors' residence in Toronto a few years ago to be closer to his children and grandchildren. (Marjorie died in 2005.)
Bernard Baskin is now 102 years old. He is the oldest person I know - and maybe the wisest as well. My Hamilton childhood friend David Gerofsky and I get over to visit him every couple of months, mostly because the rabbi is still so darned interesting and never fails to leave us with something profound to think about.
During our most recent visit, he wanted to talk to us about 10 commandments. But not those Ten Commandments, which we all learned about as kids. Rather, he wanted to share with us 10 new commandments, which he said were updated and perhaps more pertinent for these times.
New commandment #1: You shall not overpopulate the Earth.
Baskin fears a global population doubling every other generation will create incalculable problems for food supply and natural resources. Millions of our fellow human beings will suffer, and multitudes will die of starvation and malnutrition," he says.
New commandment #2: You shall share your natural resources with others.
This commandment may be a utopian dream, but it is also a vital need and growing reality," he says.
New commandment #3: You shall not pollute or despoil the Earth.
How long can we continue to contaminate our water and the air we breathe?" he asks plaintively. We must emphasize the importance of preserving God's Earth for our ultimate health and well-being before it is too late."
New commandment #4: Preserve the family to keep it secure.
The family is still the most basic institution for the rearing of children and for the preservation and transmission of the values of our culture," he says. When I ask the rabbi whether his definition of family is limited to a 1950s Ozzie and Harriet version or could include same-sex couples, he confirms it's the latter. Despite being educated in a rabbinical seminary eight decades ago, Baskin's views on what constitutes a family seem quite up to date.
New commandment #5: You shall not engage in wholesale murder.
This admonition is aimed both at terrorists and the Russian military, currently engaged in indiscriminate bombings of civilians in Ukraine. This is a commandment that should be engraved on the hearts and minds of all world leaders," he says.
New commandment #6: You shall have respect for the elderly.
We must avoid the warehousing of our parents and grandparents," he says. There is a desperate need for the elderly to be treated as individuals who have made their contribution to society." This is a commandment too many people seem to have overlooked during the pandemic, whose victims have disproportionately been the elderly.
New commandment #7: You shall not pervert the truth.
Could there be a more important commandment in an age of the Fox network's prime-time lineup and Donald Trump? We live in an era of the big lie and the subtle falsehood," Baskin says. We know how the media can distort, warp, or exaggerate the truth."
New commandment #8: Strive to make your life worthwhile.
Baskin thinks there should be so much more to life than simply accumulating wealth and having fun. If you want idiot happiness, take tranquilizers or pray for senility," he says. The purpose of life is to be useful, to be honourable. It is to be compassionate. It is to matter, to have it make some difference."
New commandment #9: Learn to live together as members of the human race.
The world is still filled with hate and division," the rabbi says ruefully. There is a race between our ability to achieve more rational, gentle understanding and the widespread propensity toward evil that can destroy the Earth and everything that it contains."
It's astonishing to imagine what Baskin has seen over the course of his life. While we navigate the treacherous shoals of COVID-19 today, he's the only person I know who's old enough to have also lived through the Spanish flu pandemic of a century ago. In spite of everything he's seen, he's still an optimist.
No one should say they have no hope for humanity," he says. We can never say the battle is lost. We must give ourselves over to new possibilities."
Baskin has now come to the end of his sermon to us, and David and I give each other a quizzical look. Rabbi," I point out, there are only nine commandments here. Where's the tenth?"
Baskin peruses his notes and confirms I seem to be right. Then, without missing a beat, he adds: I've done that just to keep you guessing."
Baskin hasn't officially been a rabbi with a congregation for a couple of decades now. But David and I still call him Rabbi," which seems appropriate. After all, the word rabbi in Hebrew means teacher." Baskin is now working on his next lesson for us, and David and I can't wait for our next visit. At 102, having delivered thousands upon thousands of sermons, he still has so much to teach us.
Steve Paikin is the host of TVO's flagship current affairs program, The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He co-hosts the weekly provincial affairs #onpoli podcast and contributes columns to tvo.org. Paikin was born and raised in Hamilton. This originally appeared on his TVO blog