הַכְרָזַת אַאַמוּ"ר בְּאַחַת הַהִתְוַעֲדוּת: אָט אַזוֹי וִוי הַנָחַת תְּפִילִּין בְּכָל יוֹם אִיז אַ מִצְוָה דְאוֹרַיְיתָא אוֹיף יעֶדעֶן אִידעֶן, אָהן אַ חִלּוּק צִי אַ גָּדוֹל בַּתּוֹרָה, צִי אַ אִישׁ פָּשׁוּט, אַזוֹי אִיז אַ חוֹב גָּמוּר אוֹיף יעֶדעֶן אִידעֶן צוּ טראַכטעֶן יעֶדעֶן טאָג אַ האַלבּעֶ שָׁעָה וועֶגן דעֶם חִנּוּךְ פוּן קִינדעֶר, אוּן טאָן אַלץ וואָס עֶס אִיז בְּכוֹחוֹ צוּ טאָן אוּן יֶתֶר מִכְּפִי כֹחוֹ, זעֶהן פּוֹעֵל זַיין בַּיי דִי קִינדעֶר, אַז זֵיי זאָלעֶן געֶהן אִין דעֶם דֶּרֶך וואָס מעֶן אִיז זֵיי מַדְרִיךְ.

My revered father, the Rebbe [Rashab], once declared at a farbrengen: “Just as putting on tefillin every day is a Scriptural commandment incumbent on every Jew, regardless of whether he is a great Torah scholar or a simple person, so too, it is an absolute obligation for every Jew to dedicate half an hour1 every day to thinking about his children’s education, and to do everything in his power — and indeed, more than what is in his power — to see to it that they follow the path in which they are being guided.”2

Living in This World

This cry from the heart was first uttered in Lubavitch in 5664 (1904). How much more urgently is it on target today, a century later, when it is beamed at parents who are facing the formidable cultural challenges of the Western world!

Raising our children is obviously not a casual matter: it must be well formulated. This entails more than merely deciding on their schools and their other activities. Responsible parents therefore ask themselves: What spiritual concepts and values do we want to communicate to our children? How can this best be done? How ready are our children to accept them?

If our livelihood depended on the outcome of a crucial business meeting, we wouldn’t take it lightly: we would prepare arduously for hours, if not days or weeks. Since educating our children Jewishly is as least as important a goal, it obviously deserves the same effort, if not more. Ultimately, the matter depends mainly upon us, because there are many critical elements of our children’s education that no school, even the best, can grant them.