As I exited the supermarket with my eight-year-old daughter, I was stopped by a political petitioner, encouraging me to sign. After stopping at his table for a few moments, we continued to the parking lot.
My daughter wanted to know what the petitioner wanted. I explained to her the plan that he represented, and that he wanted to get local residents on board with this proposition.
“What do we believe, is he right or wrong?” She asked, her little hand wrapped in mine.
It struck me then what innocent, fresh sponges G-d entrusts us with. Suddenly, beyond explaining to her what I thought of the proposition involved, I was awed at how wide-open she was to listening to-and whole-heartedly accepting-whatever I was to tell her as an absolute truth. Indeed, a few days later, I overheard her discussing what we should sign, and what we shouldn’t sign, with her carpool companions.
In a few short years, she will evolve into a passionate teenager, with many of her own opinions about life. But right now, here she is, asking me what we believe.
If she deserves a clear opinion about a political proposition that will be obsolete in a few months, how much more so should she receive clear direction about her Jewish heritage, which is everlasting.
Let us consciously, lovingly, educate our children in what is rightfully theirs. Let us give them the gift, the comfort, of real, absolute truth. A good way to start is by enrolling them in
Let us imprint in their little minds and hearts so that “even when he grows old he will not depart from it.”*
In the immortal words of Amos's beautifully poetic prophecy:**
There will come a time…
Our children will not hunger for bread
Our children will not thirst for water
They will hunger for the words of G-d
That time is now, to answer the often-times-silent cry and yearning of our children, what do we believe?
*Written by King Solomon, in the Book of Proverbs.
**Amos, 8:11
Carey wrote...