I’ve had many roles in my career at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. But none of them compare to the most significant calling placed on my life: the calling of motherhood.
As a mother, particularly as a Jewish mother, my first priority is passing along lessons of grace, courage and character that build the faith of my four children. It’s a responsibility that was impressed upon me when I was younger, and I’ve found the immeasurable value and fulfillment it brings on a daily basis.
Parents simply can’t underestimate the ripple effects of the truths we instill in our children at a young age. And we can’t underestimate the depth of our impact on them and their impressionable minds.
There is a stirring story told about Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, a 20th-century Israeli rabbi who was tasked with finding the many Jewish orphans left in Europe in the wake of the Holocaust during World War II. In 1946, he traveled to a large monastery that had taken in dozens of Jewish children in order to save them from the Nazis. Jewish parents had sent them in order to protect them, intending to reclaim their children after the war. Only, almost none of the parents survived.
When Rabbi Herzog arrived at the monastery, he thanked the Reverend Mother for saving the children and requested their return now that the war was over. The nun replied that she was happy to return the children to their rightful place, but explained that there was no way to tell which of the hundreds of children in the orphanage were Jewish. The children were too young when they came and separated from their parents for too long since their arrival to remember anything about being Jewish. Rabbi Herzog replied that he would find a way.
Read more at Guest opinion: As a Jewish mother, my greatest commitment is building the faith of my children.
