Lazer Beams

29 Iyar: A Special Day to Pray for our Children

Today (Thursday) is the 29th of Iyar according to the Hebrew calendar. Jewish tradition teaches that today is an opportune time to pray that our children grow up in health of body, mind, and soul. The best known prayer that our people have been using for hundreds of years is "A Parent's Prayer" composed by the holy Shl"a, a 17th Century Scholar and Kabbalist who is buried near the Rambam in Tiberias. As a service to our readers, Artscroll.com sent us a PDF with the prayer in Hebrew and English, which you can download here.

We've often said that the most important part of raising happy and successful children is praying for them. The 5 minutes that you take to say the Shl"a's prayer will be one of the best investments you ever made.

Dear God: The Pure and Innocent Prayers of Children

Our entire video staff at Breslev Israel got together to produce one of the most moving and charming clips you'll ever want to see. This clip is universal, completely non-denomenational, showing children's pure and exquisitely innocent relationship with G-d. We hope you enjoy this.

A Dangerous Place for Kids

Two short weeks ago, during my weekly emuna lesson Where's Moishie, I warned parents of the dangers of cyberspace. Among other things, I said, "We implore parents to take an active interest – and control – over what their children are doing, online and elsewhere...cyberspace is a dangerous place."

Yesterday, Major-General Moti Aderi, of the National Fraud Unit of the Israeli Police said almost word for word the same thing. An undercover policewoman, posing as a twelve-year old, exposed an online pedophile ring here in Israel. Over 30 seemingly "upright" citizens have been arrested. The policewoman said: "I knew that pedophiles operated online, but I was shocked by how extensive it was," she said. "I told them I was 12 and that I was shy, but it didn’t even deter them. They went to great lengths to try to get me to meet with them. The conversations were very sexual in nature. It was appalling."

Do you what your children are doing right now? It's your duty as a parent. You wouldn't let your kids walk down the street in Gaza. Why let them be exposed to the dangers of cyberspace?

We're not Salem

Judaism is not the hellfire and brimstone of the Salem, Massachusetts zealots who burned women for being witches. Judaism is love, compassion, mercy, and findingthe good in everyone.

When parents use the whip of negative reinforcement, readily threatening, yelling and punishing, the child will despise whatever they're trying to teach. When a parent tries to use anger as a means of education, he is not educating at all, for anger does not instill love, but rather intimidation and hatred.

If you want to educate your child in Judaism, then use positive reinforcement only. Make every Jewish experience a joyful one. Don't force. Be a shining personal example. Then wait and see how much joy you'll get back.

Where's Moishie?

We would never dream of allowing our children to roam the streets and eat wherever they like. Why don't we protect their souls like we protect their bodies? Nothing is a substitute for parental responsibility... 

We hope you enjoy the video replay of this past Wednesday's weekly emuna shiur. Have a wonderful week!

Demands from your Children

People make a lot of demands from their children and then wonder why the kids don't do what they're told.

Our children are good; they drarely do things deliberately to spite us.

Then why don't they do what we tell them to?

Usually because we don't do what Hashem tells us to do.

But there's another big reason, that I learned from my beloved teacher Rav Shalom Arush: If you don't live, you can't give it.

We can't expect our children to do anything that we don't do ourselves. In that respect, the best way to educate our children is to educate ourselves.

The Positive Project

Bullying has reached epidemic proportions in schools everywhere. I can't begin to tell you how many emails I get every week from bullied kids and their parents. The pain is heartbreaking. What makes me really upset is that bullying has crept its way into Yeshivas and Yeshiva High Schools.

One Yeshiva High School decided to put an end to bullying and has initiated "The Positive Project". Here's what they're doing:

G-d willing, let's hope to see Positive Projects everywhere, soon! Take the initiative, and start the ball rolling in your (child's) school. Hashem will help you succeed!

Bright Beam blessings to Doni Joszef, who initiated today's post.