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How To Help Your Children Thrive

01/08/2019 11:35:40 AM

Jan8

Gavin Hirsch, Education Director

Why do you send your children to the Zeman School? Please don't misunderstand, I am happy that you do! But I have found that sometimes parents don't always have an answer to that question, at least not one that they find truly satisfying.

Let me offer one that may resonate with you: you send your child to get a Jewish education because you believe, somewhere deep in your soul, that doing so will help them thrive. That being comfortable in their spiritual skin is part of a recipe for them to feel at peace and emotionally whole.

If that resonates for you, or perhaps more importantly if you think that's crazy, then I'd like to recommend, "The Spiritual Child" by Dr. Lisa Miller. Dr. Miller, who is at Columbia University, explores and scientifically tests the connection between raising children with spiritual awareness and their ability to thrive in a chaotic world. Spoiler alert: spirituality is important.

She will show you the science, but not so much that your eyes glaze over, and then she'll offer practical steps of ways you can make spirituality a core value for your children. I promise that, at the minimum, you will be left with a lot to think about.

And if at the end you still don't have an answer to why you send your kids to get a Jewish education... well, then we'll keep looking for an answer.

Tue, June 17 2025 21 Sivan 5785