Feature Tidbit WITH OUR CHILDREN... "With our youth and elderly..." Par'o was willing to allow the older generation to go and "celebrate", to exercise their religious prerogative, as long as the children remained behind. This is the formula for the demise of any religion or society. Without the children to follow in the footsteps of their parents, there canbe no continuity. It was not only at this point that Par'o targeted the children. We certainly cannot forget his demand of the midwives to kill the baby boys, follwed by his command to throw all male newborns into the river. Par'o knew the value and the role of children; so have many of Israel's enemies throughout the generations. But so did Moshe and Jewish leaders of all times. To emphasize this point, the main focus of the mitzvot of Pesach is the transmission of the lessons from one generation to the next. Think about it. There is a custom, for example, to distribute nuts to the children before the Seder, so they will anticipate the Seder with excitement. The Seder itself begins with our arousing the curiosity of the children, to prompt them to ask questions. The MA NISHTANA is a special focal point of the Seder experience.There is the description of the Four Children in the preliminary "drashot" in the Hagada. The hiding of the Afikoman is meant to keep the interest of the children. The Mitzva of Hagada is specifically to tell the story of the Exodus and to explain the meaning of the mitzvot TO YOUR CHILD. And the songs at the end of the Seder - the counting song, ECHAD MI YODEI'A and Chad Gadya seem to be geared (so say some of the Hagada commentaries) to maintain the child's interest all the way through the Seder. The emphasis that Judaism places on the children and their education is by no means restricted to the Seder table. The Mitzva of Learning Torah, we are taught, is equal to all other mitzvot combined. The command in the Torah to learn Torah is NOT, "You shall learn Torah", but rather, "And you shall teach your children..." Teaching children is not only a matter of book-learning. Our obligations in the area of education of our children are not discharged when we sent them to yeshiva to learn. Children (of any age) will learn from their parents by example. The son that sits next to his father in shul, the daughter next to her mother, can learnlessons for a lifetime of davening. The Shabbat and Chagim experiences in the home, the acts of Tzedaka and kindness, etc. etc. that children see in their parents are a vital part of their education and the future of the Jewish People. [The Bo Homepage] |
