Exile and Your "Inner Jewish Child"
Learning from the Rebbe: Episode 12
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exile and your inner Jewish child Seems a bit severe to me, sacrificing is okay but what about giving thanks to the L-rd G-d for all his steadfast love, compassion and gift of having parents without disobeying same and listening to them, as they also have a story to tell. I believe I would rather see a thankful child then one who life is holding to tradition and has no joy
tell a child to do something because he is Jewish?
Rabbi Manis Friedman makes an incredible point that if you tell a child to do something so he will be a tzaddik then when he gets older he might think that that mitzvah is not for him since he is not a tzaddik. what if he stops doing the mitzvah (chas v'shalom) and then he thinks that hes not jewish because he doesn't do the mitzvah.
It is a crazy thought what a label can do to a child's mind.
Faith, exile and children.
The faith of a mother in exile,the importance of children and the meaning of faith:Thinking about Exodous 1:23, and the horror it was,the attempted genoside while in Egypt! Israels wrongdoers must have understood the childrens importance at that time! But they could not succeed! If they had; How then could G-ds own promise to Abraham and Jacob be fullfilled? Also thinking about the great trust and faith of the Mother of Moses: Putting her son in an ark! Maybe she was thinking about how G-d rescued Noah and his family?
About not needing faith, when not in exile. That is a very interesting and new thought to me, logically it sounds right: The meaning of "faith", as I have learned, is "conviction of something you do not see", and when not in exile, we will see all things clearly. ( If I have misunderstood the terminology "faith", "exile": (specially the concequences of not beeing in exile), please correct me..)
oh, really? sorry - I don't agree with Rabbi Friedman this time ! Especially for baalei teshuvah, the performance of mitzvot are a "practicing lifestyle", we are "doing for reward", and we do do these things because we want to "belong to " let us just call it "the winning side". Because it's right and that's all. But of course it is a PRACTICED RELIGION. of course it is not NATURAL, 100%. and children? are you kidding?not all kids simply want to please, that's #1 - and many frum parents say "be a tzaddik" to urge their kids to do a mitzvah. I don't see anything wrong with that statement at all. not easy with kids ever. The mitzvos don't just come naturally - it is a practice - rote - kids would rather play. This is a religion - it is also our identity - I understand that - but definitely the davening and mitzvos are rote actions - part of a religious lifestyle.


I like the notion of identity over religion...
That keeps it real.