What? Our kids don’t care about Israel?!
Everywhere I go I hear it from everyone over and over again:
We’re losing our kids!They don’t care!
They are not prepared!
They don’t care about Israel!
Kids these days don’t understand!
We’re losing, we’re losing, we’re losing!
I’m like:
Whoa! No way! How could that be?
I mean how could it be that this winningest team in human history is – now – losing?
After everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve overcome, everything we’ve built and davka now we’re losing?
The story of the Jewish People is what best selling books and movies are made of!
It’s the story of all stories;
A story that inspires oppressed peoples to imagine a better world;
A story studied by military powers and fledgling governments;
A story of light overcoming darkness;
A story of the few outlasting the many;
A story of perseverance despite history;
A story of life after death.
How could it be I ask out loud – and rhetorically as I speak at gatherings across Jewish communities – that our kids don’t care? Don’t they know? Aren’t they inspired by the story of our people? How could it be that our kids are not inspired by our story? So many others are.
Why you ask? How come you wonder?
IT IS BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW!
Of course they’re not prepared, of course they are not inspired, how could they be if they haven’t a clue who they are and what they are a part of???
Folks, education starts at the home. Period. If you are not role modeling, if you are not actively teaching, doing all you can to ensure your child forges his/her link to the chain of Jewish continuity, we have no one to blame but ourselves, because when we care our children care.
Natan Sharansky recently shared in this article “American Jews forgot to tell their children”. Mr. Sharansky is spot on and not only with regards to the plight and victory of Soviet Jewry, but with regards to the plight and victory of our entire people over history and humanity. We do no justice by keeping the story to ourselves.
If you are concerned about our children not knowing, not being prepared, not being interested in their own Jewish heritage, history, or Israel, that’s is on us.
So stop complaining and pointing fingers, and do something about it.
Education is the greatest cause of our time, now is the time to double down.
