by Rabbi Helman
A couple of weeks ago, I gave my JFX students a project: To rate, from 1-20, what would make them the most happy.
I gave them the following choices: new clothes, travel, new job,
helping others, saving a life, giving to another person, a good meal in a
great restaurant, being good looking, getting a good grade on a test,
partying Saturday night, wisdom, visiting israel, family, friendship,
victory, doing a mitzvah.
I asked them to label these in order of most happy to least happy.
The majority of these 6th and 7th grade boys said that the thing that made them the most happy was... hanging out with family. Do we realize how much our kids enjoy our presence?
When I asked the kids to explain, they said that they really enjoy being around their families better than anything else. It's no coincidence that this is the Jewish Family Experience... every Sunday our parents are coming and showing these boys that family and Jewish learning are so important.
What do you think most of the boys rated as #20?
Partying on Saturday night (maybe they're too young). Why? They said this is not something you really need in life. You could do without partying. But family? No, that you can't do without.
Sometimes the best lessons we teach our kids are the ones we don't know we're teaching!
