Time Out!

"Parenting Series on Raising Respectful and Spiritual Children

By: Rabbi Yakov Horowitz

This parenting initiative is dedicated in honor of my dear talmid Yoni Cohen who is celebrating his Bar Mitzvah this Shabbos, and for the zechus refuah sheleima of Bracha Mindel Chana bas Nechama Zelda.

A common thread in many of the emails we received after posting two columns condemning the violence in Eretz Yisrael was a sense of frustration among the Silent Majority at not being able to undo or mitigate the Chilul Hashem (desecration of G-d's name) caused by the wanton acts of a few people.

Our sages teach us that positive change radiates outward – meaning that we must improve ourselves before we can expect others to better themselves. With that in mind, perhaps we ought to reflect on what we can do in the next few weeks to bring Hashem's children closer together as we prepare to stand before Him in the upcoming Yomim Noraim (Days of Awe).

After all, few things pain parents more than to see their children fighting with each other and few things bring them more joy to than watching them treat each other with respect. Hopefully Hashem’s children can join together, collectively call a “Time-Out” to the current strife, and engender the shalom (peace) that will have Him shower His blessings upon us in the coming year.

We at Project YES would like to invite all members of our very diverse readership to use the comment thread below to share your thoughts and suggestions about what we can do to generate achdus (unity) among us despite our differences.

I propose that we spend the three Shabasos before Rosh Hashana speaking to our children and grandchildren about the importance of kavod habriyos and shalom (mutual respect and harmony) and think about what we can do as the adults in their lives to model those values.

In order to help facilitate and stimulate these discussions, Project YES invites all our readers to participate in a series of three parenting shiurim/lectures titled, "Raising Respectful and Spiritual Children."

I will conduct the first class via teleconference tonight, Thursday, August 15, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and parts two and three in this series will take place at the same time Thursday, August 22nd and Thursday, August 29th. If you miss tonight’s conference call you can dial in after the talk to hear the recorded call on a special number.

Each of the three lectures will last for 15-20 minutes. There will be some Torah content along with parenting tips, but it will be presented in a manner that people with limited or no Torah learning background will be able to follow the conversation easily.

Dial-in Number: (209) 647-1600

Participant Code: 827269

Playback Number for after the conference: (209) 647-1699 Participant Code: 827269

You can also log on to our website www.kosherjewishparenting.com to download or listen to the recorded call via your computer. We will be posting links to all three teleconferences here.

Click here to listen to the August 15, 2013 recorded “Time Out” parenting conference call.

Or paste this link into your browser: http://tinyurl.com/Horowitztimeout1

It is our hope and prayer, that this parenting initiative will help raise our children to be respectful and spiritual adults.

P.S. Parents; please speak to your children about BOTH "Stranger Danger" and overall "Child Safety/Abuse Prevention.

Here are links to 3 free 4-5 minute videos which are designed to give you the tools and language to have safety talks with your kids:

#1 youtu.be/O3i9Gdlbw1g

#2. youtu.be/zS7WBs_osNE

#3 youtu.be/lp0vjJolygQ
and you can purchase our Project YES child safety book, “Let’s Stay Safe!” online at http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/letsstaysafe/index.html or at any of the local Jewish bookstores.

You can also download our Read-Aloud Video Version of our Child Safety Book here and watch it with your children.