For the Children?
The Torah commands the entire Jewish people to gather for Hakhel: men, women and children. The Gemara asks a surprising question: “Why were the young children brought?” Its answer is even more surprising: “In order to give reward to those who bring them.”
At first glance, the children are brought for their own benefit. Their parents want them to hear words of Torah and be inspired. Yet the Gemara turns our attention towards the parents. Bringing children into a life of Torah does not benefit only the children. It changes those who bring them as well.
We often speak about what we must do “for the children.” We want to protect their phones from harmful content, but adults also need protection. We encourage children to daven, learn Torah and develop a relationship with Hashem, but we need those things no less than they do.
A familiar example occurs around a boy’s Bar Mitzvah. His parents want him to begin attending minyan regularly, but they soon discover that he is unlikely to go unless a parent goes with him. Suddenly, a father who may not always have attended minyan regularly begins going more often. He thinks that he is going for his son, but his son is also helping him to grow. Anyone who has experienced this will understand exactly how it works.
My mother once told me about a moment she experienced when I was very young. She lit Shabbat candles, recited the bracha, and heard me answer “Amen.” Suddenly, something clicked. She realised that she and my father now carried responsibility for a Jewish future. If they wanted their child to grow up connected to Torah and Judaism, they needed to strengthen that connection in their own lives.
Without knowing it, I was not only receiving something from my parents. I was also giving something to them. The child they hoped to inspire became the catalyst for their own spiritual growth. Perhaps this is part of the “reward” given to those who bring the children.
This message is not limited to parents. The children we raise, the students we teach, the people we mentor and all those whose Jewish future we hope to strengthen hold up a mirror to us. Our desire to help them grow forces us, in the best possible way, to look within and grow ourselves.
As Yom Kippur approaches, we naturally ask what kind of Jewish future we hope to create. But the future cannot be built only through what we tell others to do. If we want a stronger Jewish future, we must build a stronger Jewish present.
May those whom we hope to inspire become an inspiration to us, awakening us to genuine teshuva, greater commitment and a deeper relationship with Hashem.