Back in May of 2008, on Rabbi Horowitz's blog, he asked his readership what we think the greatest threat to Yiddishkeit is.
I posted:
1) demoralizing chinuch articles that constantly harp on what's wrong
2) absentee mothers, and mothers who don't know what it means to be a "Yiddishe Mama" or don't view that as an ideal
3) giving credence to and incorporating the psychobabble out there into our world; psychologists, social workers and other secularly educated individuals who have warped our thinking and yet, are given honor and allowed to address us and guide us
4) the encroachment and overpowering lure of the secular world
What's your opinion?
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I agree. I also think that there has become an imbalance between listening to a child's needs/wants, and always feeling like the wants must be met to have a happy child.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the children's fault for sure, and the parenting mistakes I think are a result of subconscious influences.
Not sure how to correct it as a whole, but since becoming aware of it some time ago have been trying to counteract it in my own parenting.
To me the greatest threat is lack of visable leadership. We need leadership that can address the problems that are occuring today and they are many for example:
ReplyDeleteThe proliferaton of crime, both white collar and violent in the frum community.
The lack of ability to earn a living equal to the cost of frum living.
Acceptance of shallow values such as basing marriage choices on what type of tablecloth the family uses.
Emerging stories of child molestation in frum homes, shuls, and shuls.
Lack of sufficient donations to Jewish schools to insure that teachers are paid and schools are safe and clean.
Severe family stress due to lack of money and lack of emotional support from other family members.
Higher divorce rate.
High rate of older singles not finding a match.
All of these are affecting families that we know and the next generation has no one to tell them how to handle it. They can try to learn what was said in the past but each generation has different challenges and needs leadership that understands and addresses those challenges.
That is not to say that the above mentioned threats are not operational. The secular world does encroach and tells us how to raise children, what constitutes happiness, and what women should aspire to do with their lives.