Being a Good Parent – Lessons from the Talmud
Parents and grandparents wanting to shape good and emotionally healthy children have an array of contemporary sources to guide them. This week, Rabbi Woznica shares ancient and pertinent wisdom of the Talmud.
“Denying a child religious knowledge robs the child of an inheritance.”
—Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 91b
One of two mitzvot in the Torah for Passover is to tell the story—our history— at the Seder. It is our responsibility to do so for every generation. If one generation does not know it, they will not teach their children, and it could be lost forever.
We are aware that, sadly, many Jews know too little about their Judaism. Perhaps they didn’t learn or experience it in their homes. Or, they chose not to study it as adults.
While parents may not think of it in the terms of the Talmud, many adults who did not grow up with religious knowledge, and—later in life—“discover” Judaism often feel as if they were “robbed.”
The opposite is true as well. Parents who give their children Jewish knowledge are offering—and hopefully instilling in them—an inheritance that they will undoubtedly cherish and appreciate forever.
Rabbi David Woznica
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