Being a parent and parenting Jewish children is not about good or bad its about easier and harder times and taking the time to take care of oneself so that we can be parents for the easy and hard moments is crucial. Thank you for being here today and taking the time to explore this topic together.
Our homes can feel like pressure cookers... Each family feels its own pressure, which boils and simmers over the weeks and months we live through any difficult period...
Out elders are our best guides to what it means to live a resilient life. they have lived through times characterized by great fear and loss. By their example they remind us that don't choose whether or not to experience challenges in life but rather how to move through difficult times. They are, and continue to be, the best history teachers to our children." (p. 111-112)
Becoming A Soulful Parent, Parenting Though Difficult Times, By Dasee Berkowitz
(ה) וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכׇל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכׇל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃ (ו) וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ׃ (ז) וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשׇׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃ (ח) וּקְשַׁרְתָּ֥ם לְא֖וֹת עַל־יָדֶ֑ךָ וְהָי֥וּ לְטֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין עֵינֶֽיךָ׃ (ט) וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזֻז֥וֹת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ {ס}
5. So you are to love G-d your G-d
with all your heart, with all your being, with all your substance! 6. And these words, which I myself command you today, are to be upon your heart. 7. You are to repeat them with *repeat … with: Others, “teach diligently to,” “impress upon.” your children and are to speak of them in your sitting in your house and in your walking in the way, in your lying down and in your rising up. 8. You are to tie them as a sign upon your hand, and they are to be for bands between your eyes.9. And you are to write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
The Shocken Bible, Everette Fox
How are parents being instructed to educate their child/children?
Can the instructions be expanded beyond 'loving G-d'?
One group sought to instill hope, love, and the possibility of a world where we were needed and mattered. Modern scholars* believe this group authored Genesis Chapter 1—our origin story. The six days in which G-d creates a beautiful world, followed by Shabbat, present a vision of a world that could exist without a Temple, yet still with a need for human existence.
The other school of thought is reflected in the book of Eikhah (Lamentations), a poetic text filled with profound pain, imagery of downfall, and horrific depictions of what had just occurred. It wrestles with the search for meaning amid the horrors of destruction and exile.
*Documentary Hypothesis
...אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר כַּהֲנָא לֹא עָמְדוּ פִּילוֹסוֹפִין לְאֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם כְּבִלְעָם בֶּן בְּעוֹר וּכְאַבְנִימוֹס הַגַּרְדִי, אָמְרוּ לָהֶם יְכוֹלִין אָנוּ לְהִזְדַּוֵּג לְאֻמָּה זוֹ, אָמְרוּ לָהֶם לְכוּ וְחִזְרוּ עַל בָּתֵּי כְנֵסִיּוֹת שֶׁלָּהֶם, אִם הַתִּינוֹקוֹת מְצַפְצְפִין בְּקוֹלָן, אִי אַתֶּם יְכוֹלִין לָהֶם, וְאִם לָאו אַתֶּם יְכוֹלִין לָהֶם...
...Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: No philosophers arose for the nations of the world like Bilam ben Beor and Avnimus the weaver. They said to them:8The nations of the world said to the philosophers. ‘Are we able to successfully challenge this nation?’ They said to them: ‘Go and visit their synagogues; if the children are reciting aloud, you will be unable to overcome them, but if not, you will be able to overcome them...