Save and print selected articles in a PDF journal.
Receive emails containing the latest comments on your favorite articles.
Mark articles as "READ".
More member features coming soon...
Raffle Rules:
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. To enter, complete the signup form and join as a member. Incomplete entries will be disqualified. All entries shall become the property of CJFL. CJFL is not responsible for lost, misdirected or delayed entries.
The contest is open to the general public. Members need to be at least 18 years old. Identification must be produced on request. Employees of CJFL, its raffle sponsor, advertising and promotional agencies and their respective affiliates and associates and such employees' immediate family members and persons with whom such employees are domiciled are excluded from this raffle. ALL PREVIOUSLY REGISTERED MEMBERS WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED INTO THIS RAFFLE.
The prize is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded.
Decisions of the raffle judges are final - no substitutions will be available.
By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation of his or her name and/or likeness (first initial and last name) and municipality of residence for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation, radio broadcasts, newspapers and other publications and in television or film releases, slides, videotape, distribution over the internet and picture date storage) which CJFL may deem appropriate.
In accepting the prize, the winner, acknowledges that CJFL may not be held liable for any loss, damages or injury associated with accepting or using this prize.
CJFL retains the rights, in its absolute and sole discretion, to make substitutions of equivalent kind or approximate value in the event of the unavailability of any prize or component of the prize for any reason whatsoever.
This contest is subject to all federal, provincial and municipal laws.
CJFL reserves the right to withdraw or terminate this raffle at any time without prior notice.
One entry per person.
Recently, I bought a book on the planets that begins with a description of the world as being 15 billion years old. Can I read that to my children and discuss with them the fact that there are people, even smart people, in the world who believe this, yet helping them understand that we believe that the Torah, which is emes, teaches us that the world is 5,766 years old? I want my children to know that there are people that incorrectly believe this, and I also would like them to hear this from me - and not someone who doesn't have proper hashkafos. At the same time, I understand that the theory of evolution is not accepted in the Torah world.
I hope that I am not putting you in an uncomfortable position by posing this question.
As parents, we all know the feeling of being asked jaw-dropping, excellent questions from our children. And we rarely get the opportunity to avoid answering them. So, I guess that once I agreed to do this give-and-take parenting column, I should play by the same rules, and not take a pass on challenging, excellent questions from parents on raising children in these trying times. So you need not apologize for posing your question.
Upon analysis, there are, in fact, two very important issues that you raise. Firstly, how to process and better understand (ourselves, as adults) issues where essential matters of our bedrock emunah, are challenged by scientific findings. (It is my strong feeling that many of the issues that we deal with in raising children are, in fact, issues that we as adults are struggling with.) Additionally, there is the question of how to (or whether to) impart this information to our children. Is it better to avoid discussing these challenging topics and hope that our children will be among the many who are not giving much thought to these matters, or is it wiser to be proactive and prepare them for the time when they may need to deal with them at a more vulnerable time in their lives - when we may not be there to guide them?
Regarding the first matter - our own understanding of things - the fact that there are objects in our world that appear to be more than 5,766 years old is not, in and of itself, a contradiction to our emunah. Hashem created a world that was mature and developed. The trees had rings and the stones appeared to be timeworn. In fact, the Midrash states that Adam was created not as an infant, but rather as an adult with the developed body of a thirty-year old. Thus, only two years after the world was created, Adam would have appeared to be thirty-two years old, when in fact, it was only two years after he was created. So, too, a tree may have appeared to be hundreds of years old during the second year of creation. The same line of reasoning would apply to stones, canyons, etc.
An important note: When I first took a job teaching general studies in a yeshiva nearly twenty years ago, I asked an esteemed Rov who was a close talmid of Hagaon Reb Yaakov Kaminetsky z'tl, if the above was hashkafically in line with our mesorah and appropriate to share with adolescent talmidim. He related to me that Reb Yaakov z'tl had explained this matter to him in exactly the same manner.
Therefore, the ages of the stones are not necessarily a fundamental conflict with our emunah. Many components of the theory of evolution, on the other hand, most certainly are, however. (You may wish to review an excellent series of articles by Rabbi Chaim Dov Keller s'hlita, Rosh Yeshiva, Telshe Chicago, in a recent issue of The Jewish Observer to gain the Torah perspective regarding evolution and 'intelligent design'.)
There are no comments yet. Click above to write the first comment.
Dear Readers:
Please visit our Parenting Resource listing to learn about agencies and services that you can make use of. If you know of an agency that can be of assistance to others, kindly drop an email to our site administrator at admin@RabbiHorowitz.com and pass along the information to him.
I ask that you please consider supporting the work we are doing to improve the lives of our children. Click on these links to learn more about our teen and parent mentoring program that serves hundreds of teens and their families, or our KESHER program, now in 20 schools in 4 states. Your financial support can allow us to expand these services and help more children.
If you believe in the governing principles of this website – to help effect positive change through the candid discussions of the real issues we collectively face, please consider becoming a daily, weekly or monthly sponsor of this website and help defray the costs of it’s maintenance.
Working with Families and Educators on Behalf of our Children
This site is managed by The Center for Jewish Family Life, Inc., 56 Briarcliff Drive, Monsey, NY 10952
Project Y.E.S. was founded by Agudath Israel of America
The Center for Jewish Family Life/Project YES - 56 Briarcliff Drive, Monsey, NY 10952 (845) 352-7100 ext. 114 Fax: (845) 352-9593
email: email@kosherjewishparenting.com
