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Jews invest enormous resources in education. Yet, many of our children are holding on by a thread. Recent polls show that half of young Jews in New York City supported Zohran Mamdani in his mayoral election. A child can know our history, understand our traditions, and still feel disconnected from our people.
The Midrash (B.R. 55:4) records a striking debate between Yishmael and Yitzchak. Both were sons of Avraham, and both were circumcised by their father: Yishmael at thirteen and Yitzchak at eight days. Yishmael argues that his circumcision was greater because he could have refused. Yitzchak claims that his was greater precisely because it occurred in infancy. Yishmael's argument certainly seems stronger. His was a courageous, conscious commitment. What could be superior about a covenant Yitzchak could not understand or choose?
The two circumcisions express different approaches to our relationship with G-d. Yishmael's experience is predicated on understanding and commitment. Yitzchak's expresses a bond rooted in identity, something that precedes understanding and reaches beyond it. Yitzchak entered the covenant before he could even speak. Before he could form a thought, he already belonged.
Empowering our children to confront a hostile world requires more than teaching them about the Holocaust, the San Remo Resolution or the Balfour Declaration. They first need to feel deeply connected to their people and their story.
This concept helps us appreciate the order of Ruth's declaration when she joined the Jewish faith. Before saying, “Your G-d is my G-d," she says, "Your people are my people" (Ruth 1:16). Belonging precedes faith. Our children need knowledge, but more importantly, they need warmth. A connection that takes root in a child's earliest years, through love and shared experience.
Alongside a seat at the library table, a child needs a special place at the Shabbat table. Our history becomes their story when they feel that they have a place within it.
At a Bris, the father blesses G-d for commanding him "to bring his child into the covenant of Avraham our father." At eight days old, the child cannot undertake that responsibility. The parent must welcome him into it, then spend the years ahead helping him discover its meaning. Before children can say, ‘I understand,’ we need to help them feel, ‘I belong.’ That is the power of Yitzchak’s covenant: a bond that begins before understanding and grows deeper throughout life.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Daniel Green
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