Intermountain Jewish news., 1925-11-19
An APPEAL TO JEWISH PARENTS
FOR the TRAINING OF THEIR CHILDREN

burden OF this rcawnkcnlng should he
transferred to the classroom, where the
children gather In their most impress
sionnble stage. Jewish history ms now
taught smacks of the graveyard. II is
the history e our past only. But the
Jewish conception of history Is IA rec
ord Of the future written in advance.
II Is this spirit That our religious teach
ers try TO instill In the hearts of your
children. so as to awaken their Jewish
conscience their consciousness Of the
past and future OF Israel.
We still can make our children feel
u pride In their people aud teach them
OF their great men from Moses, the
greatest lawgivcr of his day. TO Berg
son, the greatest philosopher OF our
day. We can train our children to-
take an interest In their history and
make them feel that Judas Mnccabeus
lived as truly as did George Washing
ton. and that the Jewish Independence
of Egypt was experimenting. even ns
was the American independence Of
England. They must be trained to feed
pride in their faith. to he prepared tc
fight its battles, plead its cause and de
fcnd its honor The very word Jew"
should be To them term of honor and
no, of reproach.
1t Is absolutely necessary to incul
cate into their minds belief in God,
who controls the affairs of the Uni
verse, and to whom they will be re-
sponsible for every thing which they
do; and in order that children may
know the living God they must he
taught TO pray.
To rear and educntc children so as
to bring out the very best that is In
them Is II task. not only of tremendous
Importance, but of great difficulty; and
izing that the school teacher-the one
to whom we entrust the mental, and to
some extent, the moral upbringing OF
our children-was IN reality the most
valuable and important citizen In the
entire community.
Every child is born. mimic. copying
the manners and The customs of those
among whom he grows up. To take II
familiar example: If parents wish
their children to attend their place. Of
worship. tia.y win not he fulfilling their
Far more effective, it is, to bring them
there.
II is TO the mothers of Israel that
We look for the perpetuation of our
faith and it is one of the signal serv-
ices that we should restore to woman
her rightful place in the community as
the character builder Of our future
generation. And by interesting our
women We are going back TO the first
principles Of Judaism. After Deborah
had won for her oppressed people a
glorious victory, She refused the prof
fcred titles which were urged upon
her She did not wish to be known to
posterity AS a judge. or as q general.
or as n queen. The most noble title she
could nd for herself was that of Il
Mother in Israel, for she knew that 1t
was the mothers who held In the palm
of their hands the destinics of ma
tiuns.
We should start teaching our chill
drcn their duties almost from infancy
Teach them that their place is in the
Synagog on Saturday. in the Hebrew
school during the week days, and at
Sunday school on Sundays; for these
Institutions are aS important as the
public school. Don't worry about Civ
ing them too much to occupy their
minds for the devil finds woyk for idle
hands.
by telling them how clever they are,
but let us fry to instill modesty Into
their plastic young minds, by telling
them how much they lack.
appeal 10 you parents and children
to take at heart this lesson of the 10Th
chapter Of Leyiticus. Encourage rev
erencc, discourage Aippancy. Revert
to the old Jewish conception. Honor
your elders. Honor your teachers.
Honor your parents. Honor your God.
Preserve n Jewish atmosphere in your
homes and you will be on the high road
of success towards giving our children
the right kind Of training. We shall
he our clildrrn's best friends II we III
culcate into their young minds not
only that they have rights and preroga-
tives, but also duties and responsible
ties. Once such knowledge is acquired
they will be infinitely better equipped
to fight the battle of life. Let MS bend
our every effort towards raising a gen
GRAFTON, having respect both for them
selves aud iheir lellow-men and we
shall be carrying ON The chain Of Jew
! iSh tradition and giving our children