Day 310: Is Your Blood Redder?
I don't know how I personally feel about this story, so as I work to process and think about it on my own, I invite you to do the same: "Even as one who came before Raba27 and said to him, 'The governor of my town has ordered me, "Go and kill so and so; if not, I will slay thee"'. He answered him, 'Let him rather slay you than that you should commit murder; who knows that your blood is redder? Perhaps his blood is redder." (Text from: http://www.come-and-hear.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_74.html)
Day 311: Should There Be a Limit to Parental Love?
I'm sure we've all heard of cases in which children do things their parents wouldn't endorse. In many cases, this leads to conflict and puts parents and children farther apart in terms of their relationship.
According to Rabbi Telushkin and Jewish etiquette, what parents would consider misbehavior should draw parents to their children. They should be showing their children more love and supporting them, trying to help them through whatever it is they are going through. The one exception to this is when loving this child would put the parents' other children at a disadvantage. Remember, don't play favorites!
Day 312: Teach Your Child Survival Skills
My parents taught me how to drive, how to care for an injury or sickness, how to cook. But most importantly, they paid for swim lessons for years and years (even when the only problem with my swimming became not wanting to put my head under water).
More than just being wonderful parents and good things to do for your children, my parents taught me survival skills. Whether they knew it or not, they were fulfilling the talmudic teaching: that obligates parents to teach their children to swim, because their life may depend on it.
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