Living Torah Archives

The Megillah relates that everyone, from young to old, was included in Haman’s decree. Similarly, the Evil Inclination, also wants to, G-d forbid, influence the Jewish people, starting with Jewish children, to weaken their strength and pride.

The Torah relates the story of how Chana persevered in her prayers and was finally granted a son. But more than just a biblical tale, it’s a lesson for us in our responsibility to the future generations.

It is through teshuva, returning to G-d, that we can fix the root-cause of exile, and bring it to an end. The Midrash teaches that the exile truly began when the Jewish children were exiled. In this regard, the Jewish children play an important role in resolving the situation and ushering in the arrival of Moshiach.

At the first possible opportunity, we begin teaching our young about their precious heritage. And while the obligation to educate our children only begins once they reach the age of five or six, there is much we can teach them even before then.

A heartwarming collection of scenes of the Rebbe interacting with children.

The festival of Purim has a special connection to young children.

According to the Jewish calendar, a second month of Adar is added in a leap year. While Purim is usually celebrated in Adar, during a leap year it is postponed until the second Adar, and we mark Purim Katan—“the small Purim”—in the first month.

The Haftorah of the first day of Rosh Hashanah relates the story of Chana, a childless woman who entreated G-d for a son at the Tabernacle in Shiloh. Eventually she gave birth to a son who would become the prophet Shmuel.

Those responsible for allocating communal funds must make some difficult decisions about how the money should best be spent.

Although parents have a duty to educate and guide their children, it can sometimes be that the parents need direction themselves.

That which a child is exposed to, even at the youngest age, has far-reaching effects on him, physically and spiritually. Modern science has also reached this conclusion, even concerning infants who are too young to understand what is going on around them. Therefore, it is important to surround a Jewish child with only holy sounds and images. Even if their minds do not understand it, their souls do.

The Passover Seder begins with the child’s question: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” Fundamentally, the question bothering the child is: “Why am I different from children of all other nations?”

Every Jewish boy and girl is chosen by G-d to be His “soldier”. Their duty is to banish the Evil Inclination, and influence the entire world to follow the Good Inclination alone.