Rabbi's blog

What are the sweetest words that you wish to hear a young child say? “I want to go to Shul!”

A child who loves Shul and is kicking and screaming that they want their daddy and mommy to take them to services, is a child who is on the track to be a Jacob — the patriarch of the Jewish people.

Let me tell you a bit about Jacob. Not about him as an adult; not even as a child; rather, as a fetus.

The Torah tells us that when Rebecca was pregnant with her twins Jacob and Esau, she felt like a battle was going on inside. Rashi explains that whenever she walked by a House of Worship to Hashem she would feel a kick and excitement, and whenever she went by the house of idolatry she felt an excited kick as well.

‘Am I carrying a schizophrenic?’ She wondered. She went to consult a sage, who told her: You have two nations inside you. Those two nations? Jacob and Esau. In Jacob, she carried the father of the 12 tribes and the Jewish people. In Esau, she held the father of Rome, and by extension — the father of the West and Christianity.

Jacob was kicking when walking by a Shul. That fetus ended up as Jacob.

Here at Linksfield Shul we can do little about fetuses,but we take this message very strongly. We know the importance of getting the kiddies over into the Shul from the youngest age with enthusiasm and excitement. We need to ensure that we have the Jacobs of the future who will marry Jews, raise Jewish families (with 12 tribes…), and serve the Jewish people with honor and pride.

The Jacobs and Rachels of the tomorrow are there in your home, in the home of your married children, in the home of your brother or sister. Those little kids need to be at Shul. Every kid belongs in Shul.

We are fully partnered with you to make them want to come. We hired our world class youth couple Rabbi Greg and Hannah to aim for the stars. We have an awesome team of Maddies who are consistently taking on new goals and reinventing themselves. We are currently working on amazing initiatives for the coming year. We are about to launch our building campaign for the most stunning Youth Centre in town. We are working on growing and broadening our team.

We are one-track minded: We need to get your children/grandchildren/nieces and nephews into Shul. We need those kiddies to carry the tradition forward. We need to fight assimilation from the youngest age. Not one kid of our community can be lost to the Jewish people in the future. We are that committed.

We need your help: Please do your part to make them want to be here. Make Judaism awesome. Make it alive. Make it the best hour of the week. Do whatever it takes.

Jewish continuity is a serious matter, and we encourage you to carry the burden with us. It cannot be any other way.

May we all be blessed with Nachas from our children and grandchildren!