Tribalism

For seven days of Sukkot, Jews walk around in circles, carrying an assortment of green and yellow flora. Then, on Simchat Torah, they dance in circles carrying Hebrew scrolls, working up to a frenzy.

Keeping kosher is not a reasonable act, and neither is Shabbat, or the prohibition against mixing wool and linen. These are neither rational nor religious acts—at least not in the modern understanding of “religious” . . .

The key to raising children is not to “raise” them, but to include them in your own life, and to live your own life in a way that is worth emulating.