This ramble is going to be
different from most. It's not about what happened to me this week.
It's about something I've been thinking about for a long time, but
haven't had the guts to say to you directly.
They say the cutoff is eight. When your kids are younger than eight, you can do a lot of things without a lot of trauma. Move. Switch schools. Bring more Judaism into your family's day-to-day living.
Personally, I've seen families that are inspired in Judaism, and wish to pay more attention to Shabbat dinners. Lighting the candles. Singing the birkat. Making the motzi. Being more careful with not gossiping. Educating the kids more in honoring parents. Giving more tzedaka. Perhaps even... Camp Nageela? :)
And they take some steps, and the kids are young, and the kids love it. And they take some more steps, and the kids still love it, but the kids are getting older. And then, some years go by and then the kids are 10. 11. 14. And it's too late for day school. Because you just can't do those kinds of things to a 14-year-old, unless he or she is asking you to.
And then everything changes. And the rules shift. And it gets far more complicated. It becomes about working the Judaism around the other stuff. It becomes about what the friends are doing. It becomes about what's popular and what's not.
It's Chanukah today. The holiday of self-sacrifice to remain Jewish despite the prevailing culture.
It's a window of opportunity. A small one. Please... don't be afraid to make the most of it.
They say the cutoff is eight. When your kids are younger than eight, you can do a lot of things without a lot of trauma. Move. Switch schools. Bring more Judaism into your family's day-to-day living.
Personally, I've seen families that are inspired in Judaism, and wish to pay more attention to Shabbat dinners. Lighting the candles. Singing the birkat. Making the motzi. Being more careful with not gossiping. Educating the kids more in honoring parents. Giving more tzedaka. Perhaps even... Camp Nageela? :)
And they take some steps, and the kids are young, and the kids love it. And they take some more steps, and the kids still love it, but the kids are getting older. And then, some years go by and then the kids are 10. 11. 14. And it's too late for day school. Because you just can't do those kinds of things to a 14-year-old, unless he or she is asking you to.
And then everything changes. And the rules shift. And it gets far more complicated. It becomes about working the Judaism around the other stuff. It becomes about what the friends are doing. It becomes about what's popular and what's not.
It's Chanukah today. The holiday of self-sacrifice to remain Jewish despite the prevailing culture.
It's a window of opportunity. A small one. Please... don't be afraid to make the most of it.
