As both a parent and a Jewish early childhood educator, I look forward to Parshat Emor each year not only because of the recap of all of our beautiful holidays, but for the uplifting messages it sends to families and educators alike.
The parsha starts out with a seeming redundancy in the first pasuk: “Emor…v’amarta…say…tell them.” We all know that every word in the Torah is carefully placed for a specific purpose and to teach us a meaningful lesson. Here is no different. Rashi proposes a beautiful answer. He suggests that not only should adults take responsibility for themselves, but they should become invested in the next generation and guide them to make sure that they don’t depart from our ways. Simply put, the concept of being a role model for the next generation is right here. Children are always watching parents and teachers and it is our duty to be exemplary role models in all areas, but certainly in our middot, our performance of mitzvot, and in our celebration of Judaism. Therefore, I believe it is no accident or coincidence that all of our holidays are placed in this very parsha.
As I wrote in an article before Pesach, the Seder provides us with a model of educational excellence. It is experiential, differentiated, inquiry-based and structured. The same sound educational principles, and more, can be applied to the celebration of all the holidays. Each and every one is special, unique, and provides a myriad of ways to experience them with all of our senses, to truly get our whole bodies involved, and to create lifelong memories that place a love of Judaism solidly and strongly in our hearts and souls forever. It is up to us as parents and educators to not only follow the roadmap of the Torah but to infuse the beauty, meaning and special qualities to keep the next generation engaged, excited and connected.
We, as parents and educators, are the quintessential role models for our children. When children see the energy, excitement, fervor and vigor with which we look forward to the holidays and our unique family customs and traditions, they will internalize the simcha as well. When we pass on, or create our own, family traditions around each chag, children look forward to those year after year. When early childhood educators integrate the study of the holidays into the childrens’ daily lives by conducting science experiments, playing math games, cooking, baking, creating artwork, re-enacting the stories, singing, and dancing, they are hard-wiring these experiences into our children, creating meaningful and lasting memories.
In our family, we have many meaningful and unique family traditions in our celebrations of the holidays. While I don’t have the space here to write about all of them, there are two I would like to highlight.
My husband’s grandmother, Adele Cherrick, z”l, counted the omer diligently each night with her four children from a very young age. She rewarded each one with a watch the first time they completed the counting of the Omer in its entirety. These four children instilled the same meaning and excitement into counting the Omer into each of their children, and “Grams” rewarded each with a watch as well. When I started dating my husband, at age 19, I counted the Omer for the first time and received my watch, a Mickey Mouse watch. Each of my four children received a watch when they counted as well. There are no words to describe the excitement and feeling of accomplishment that each one displayed. This year, over 60 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren count with anticipation and excitement each night, in Grams’ memory. Nobody misses, ever, including my two children serving in the IDF. My son, who has currently been in the “shetach” in the middle of the desert with no amenities for five weeks, is still counting, and says he would never miss because that’s what our family does, together, all of us—multiple generations, across multiple time zones, in multiple countries, across varied religious spectrums ranging from charedi/yeshivish to Modern Orthodox. Everyone counts, and everyone counts. This is the beauty of family tradition that spans generations and unifies and engages us. My husband and I were resigned to the fact that perhaps our son in the shetach would forget, and that would have to be OK, but the power of the family tradition is just that strong.
As pillars of the St. Louis community in the 1950s, my husband’s grandparents had one of the only private sukkot outside of the shul. On the first day of Sukkot each year, everyone would leave shul and go to their sukkah for a giant kiddush. My husband’s grandmother, known for epitomizing the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, baked for weeks before and graciously welcomed the community into her sukkah. When my husband and I got married in 1995, he wanted to follow in that tradition, which was always talked about throughout his childhood, and asked that we make a kiddush in our sukkah each year for our friends and families. I can’t say that I initially jumped at the opportunity to prepare for weeks like his grandmother, but I did recognize the beauty of carrying on the tradition. While I cater now and no longer cook, my children anxiously await our 25-year annual tradition and I look forward to hosting each year. My children in Israel are sad to miss it, ask for updates on the preparation, and it is my hope that one day they too will carry on the tradition. It’s an absolute highlight of our year. B’ezrat Hashem, the COVID-19 threat will have long passed and we will be able to continue our tradition this coming Sukkot.
In addition, it is important to note that the holidays also give us the ability to marvel at the miracle of Hashem’s creations and to be thankful for all of the gifts that He has given us. From the harvest of the wheat, to the bringing of the bikkurim, to the miracles of yetziat Mitzrayim and ma’amad Har Sinai, we are given constant opportunities to highlight Hashem’s wonders to our children.
The power of families, the beauty of traditions that span generations, the chain of the mesorah, and the memories that we create together are priceless. So, when you read the parsha this Shabbat, think not only of the details of the holidays, but of the messages that we can model and pass on to our children, who will in turn pass to their children. Don’t have traditions like ours? What better time than now to start some of your own. May we all continue to have much nachat from our children. Shabbat shalom!
Jessica Kohn is the early childhood director and founding educator of Ben Porat Yosef.
