Live As If . . . Through the eyes of a child

Today is the first day in a few weeks without a Jewish Holiday which begs the question, "Are we different because of the holidays?".  This was the time of year when we are supposed to reflect on our lives, repent for our shortcomings and try to improve in the upcoming year.  I think that most people connect these ideas too much with the religious aspect of the holidays so they don't use this opportunity to make a change in their lives.  If you have trouble believing in God or religion, I still think that everybody believes that having a time of year when you can be introspective and try to become a better you is a pretty good exercise.

Jenna and Evan in Jerusalem in 2007

Speaking of exercise, one of the nice traditions in our family that was only started 3 years ago was that we walk home from Temple on the night before Yom Kippur (aka Kol Nidre).  Now I know there a lot of people that walk to Temple but we don't since it's a 2.5 mile walk.  It all started with my daughter Jenna who is now 11 saying that she wanted to walk home so we did.  Last year, my son Evan who is now 9 wanted to get in on the Daddy-Child Time but was upset since the Kol Nidre Walk was cancelled due to rain.  As Kol Nidre approached this year, both Jenna and Evan were pleased to find out that the weather report was clear and the Kol Nidre Walk was a go.

So we started our walk and it became obvious that both Jenna and Evan came prepared with some questions that have been bothering them and this was their chance to get some real answers during our hour long walk home.  Jenna started first with a not so simple question, "How do we know that there is a God?"  I thought about it for a second and answered as honestly as I could and in true Jewish fashion of answering a question with a question -- "We don't but does that matter?"  They both looked at me like I needed to elaborate.  My point to them was that if we Live As If there is a God by being a good person and always trying to be better, it doesn't matter whether there is a God or not. 

As you probably guessed, this conversation led to my sharing with them that my friend Craig and I started this blog to talk about this very same issue.  It's nice to see that next generation is thinking about this issue of how to live their lives.  By the time we got home at 11:30pm, they immediately wanted me to show them this blog and read the posts.

I would highly recommend having this type of conversation with your children on what they believe in since I am sure you will be surprised as I was.  Please add a comment below to share any of your experiences with your children since we want to keep the "Live As If" conversation going.