{"id":26284,"date":"2023-01-27T11:39:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T16:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/?p=26284"},"modified":"2023-01-27T14:14:50","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T19:14:50","slug":"be-grateful-for-your-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/news-views\/blog\/be-grateful-for-your-freedom","title":{"rendered":"Be grateful for your freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week, in Parshat Bo, we are reminded about our role as parents in responding to our children\u2019s Jewish questions.\u00a0 In this parshah, the plagues on Mitzrayim (ancient Egypt) become increasingly more severe, culminating in the truly horrific makkot habekhorot<\/em> – slaying of the first born.\u00a0 The parshah raises many difficult questions concerning Pharaoh’s free will, the extent of the suffering, and the cost of freedom and more.\u00a0 What has always fascinated me about this parshah is that it anticipates the difficult questions it raises.\u00a0 It also anticipates that children of future generations will ask these questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 12 of Parshat Bo<\/em>, in the Book of Exodus, describes the rituals of Pesach that are to be done to remember the final departure from Mitzrayim.  Immediately following the description of the rituals, the Torah states that, in the future , “Your children will ask you, ‘What is this ritual to you?'”  At the very moment the Torah describes the rituals of Pesach — the first and most formative collective Jewish ritual \u2013 the Torah also reminds us that in the future, children will ask about the meaning and purpose of this ritual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notion that children will ask questions about Pesach is mentioned four times in the ensuing chapters of Exodus – paralleling the four questions of the children of the Seder.   Nothing could be more Jewish than raising questions concerning the meaning and purpose of what we, as Jewish people, do.   In each generation, parents are challenged to explain to their children “what this ritual is to you.”  Davka, to you<\/em>!  The Torah and the Haggadah gives us some guidance on how to answer our children’s questions.  But ultimately, each of us needs to be able to answer it for our own children.   What applies to Pesach, the formative Jewish ritual, applies to Judaism as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Shabbat, may we each find the wisdom and words to answer for our children what living a Jewish life means to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shabbat Shalom,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreh Greg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, in Parshat Bo, we are reminded about our role as parents in responding to our children\u2019s Jewish questions.\u00a0 In this parshah, the plagues on Mitzrayim (ancient Egypt) become …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":26285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBe grateful for your freedom - The Toronto Heschel School<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/news-views\/blog\/be-grateful-for-your-freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Be grateful for your freedom - The Toronto Heschel School\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week, in Parshat Bo, we are reminded about our role as parents in responding to our children\u2019s Jewish questions.\u00a0 In this parshah, the plagues on Mitzrayim (ancient Egypt) become ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/news-views\/blog\/be-grateful-for-your-freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Toronto Heschel School\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-27T16:39:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-27T19:14:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Parshat-6.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jaimie Carson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jaimie Carson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/news-views\/blog\/be-grateful-for-your-freedom#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/news-views\/blog\/be-grateful-for-your-freedom\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jaimie Carson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d7f8942f4c7cf509114b2103562b838b\"},\"headline\":\"Be grateful for your freedom\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-27T16:39:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-27T19:14:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/news-views\/blog\/be-grateful-for-your-freedom\"},\"wordCount\":349,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Dvar Torah\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/news-views\/blog\/be-grateful-for-your-freedom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.torontoheschel.org\/news-views\/blog\/be-grateful-for-your-freedom\",\"name\":\"Be grateful for your freedom - 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