Last night Jews around the world celebrated the first night
of Chanukah. Chanukah celebrates our religious freedom and I have always found
it to be a holiday that spoke to me as a Rabbi and educator. I try to find an
appropriate Chanukah message to share with people each year. . This year I came across the words of
Lord Rabbi Sacks.
The message is one that we as parents and educators need to
take to heart.
.
Wishing you all a
Happy Chanukah and in the words of lord Rabbi Sacks, “The best present we can
give our children is the chance to do something great.”
I hope Rabbi Sacks words speak to us as much as they spoke
to me
Editors note: Because of the important message I will be posting this on a number of my blogs
Here is a link to the complete article: http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadArtical.aspx?id=1424
“The best
present we can give our children is the chance to do something great.
Children grow to fill the
space we create for them, and if it's big, they grow tall. But if we turn them
into mini consumers, we rob them of the chance of greatness, and I've not yet
met a child not capable of greatness if given the opportunity and
encouragement.
I do a lot of public
speaking, and people sometimes ask me who taught me. The answer is simple. I
went to a Christian school with a lot of Jewish pupils but no Jewish teachers.
So we had to run the Jewish assembly ourselves, and that's how I learned as a teenager
how to speak in public, because somebody gave me the chance. It was best piece
of education I ever had.
Judaism is a child-centred
religion. My earliest memories are of putting the bells on the Torah scroll in
the synagogue, asking the Passover questions, lighting the chanukah candles.
Judaism stayed young because it made heroes of the young. The best present we
can give our children is the chance to do something great. It's a gift that
will last a lifetime and transform their lives.”
