Having children is an act of faith. Faith that the world is going somewhere good. Faith that in our children's lifetimes it will be a better place than it is now. How do we know this, when there's so much evidence to the contrary? We just do.
Having children is an act of trust. Trust in He who creates and sustains the world anew each moment of time, that He will provide what is needed to sustain one more partner to His grand plan.
What couple could have a child if they first had to prove that they could "afford" it? If parenthood required a license, like for operating a motor vehicle or practicing law, who would pass the test? Yet somehow we know that if we bring a child into the world, G-d will provide the resources to nourish them body and soul. As He did for our parents, who were perhaps no worse, but most likely no better, equipped for the task than we.
Having children is a G-dly act. Who but G-d could say, "Let us make a
man in our image, in our likeness," and then impart this same power to His
creation?
Having children is a joy as deep as pain, an agony as exhilarating as
pleasure. Someone once said that only after having a child of his own did he
understand how G-d feels: what it's like to create a being who is an extension of your very
self, with a will of its own -- a will that is free to turn against your
will. What pain is there when your child turns against you! And what joy and
satisfaction there is when he or she carries all that is precious to you -- your
values, your vision, your dreams -- to the next
generation and beyond, in new and unanticipateable ways.
Having children is the ultimate self-assertion. It says: I am, and I shall continue to be. Forever.
Stories:
Angels
by Jay Litvin
Zeida
by Chani Hadad
My Son's Short But Very Meaningful Life
by Schneur and Rachi Garb
Zahavah's Friend
by Tovia Bolton
Songs of Innocence
by Deena Yellin
How A Stupid Little Ruler Saved My Life
by Jay Litvin
A Mother Who Stayed Home
by Beth Poznansaky Baum
Chaim's Bar Mitzvah
by Rabbi Yossy Goldman
Do You Have a Father?
told by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik
Popular Names
from the writings of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yizchak Schneersohn
Serving Father
from the writings of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yizchak Schneersohn
Serebrinka, 1902
from the writings of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yizchak Schneersohn
Insights and essays:
It Is His Turn
by Jay Litvin
The Wonder that is Woman
by Yanki Tauber
The Memory of Water
by Yanki Tauber
It's Not Easy To Be a Son
by Yanki Tauber
The Fifth Question
by Yanki Tauber
The Eyes of a Child
by Yanki Tauber
Assisted Reproduction - A Torah Perspective
by Rabbi Manis Friedman
The View From My Child's Window
by Jay Litvin
What Happened on Your Birthday?
by Yanki Tauber
The Head
by Yanki Tauber
Packaging
by Yanki Tauber
See also:
Education: an Anthology
Rabbi Yaakov Leider's Parenting Articles
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