“Oh it smells so good, can we go in and buy some burgers?”
“Sorry my dear, that isn’t a kosher store. We can’t buy anything from there!”
“Oh daddy, I didn’t realize!”
Suddenly we are stopped by a passing Mom.
“How is your daughter so accepting of a ‘No’. My daughter can’t stop complaining when I told her we’re not going into …
“No worries. My daughter is an expert complainer too! You see, when I told my daughter it’s not kosher, she knew it’s non-negotiable. Period. complaining won’t help. Wait until we pass a kosher store, and you may see a very different reaction to my ‘No’…
Children sense our inner conviction. They know when we are paying lip service, and when the subject matter is not up for discussion.
The only way to guarantee Jewish continuity is by demonstrating the extent we care. We need our children to see what we stand for!
When we tell our children “Don’t ever cross the road when the light is red. It’s dangerous”, they get it. They see it in our face and hear it in our voice.
We all care. Every single one of us. Life has its way of putting important issues on the back burner. There are bills to pay. Meetings to attend. However children have a way of rekindling that inner passion. They bring our deepest and innermost feelings to the forefront, and never let them sink back to the bottom.
When we show them how much we care, then we won’t have to tell them that we care.
When we demonstrate our passion in our behavior, the values we live for will automatically be embedded in our children!
Takeaway: Values are caught, not taught. – Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Shabbat Shalom
R. Mendy
