Preparing Our Children to Crown Hashem
One of the major themes of Rosh Hashana is crowning Hashem as the Ultimate King of The Universe. This day is the anniversary of His original anointment so each year on the day we stand in judgement and plead for a שנה טובה, we are required to declare His Sovereignty and commit ourselves to be His loyal subjects.
Although Rosh Hashana is referred to as the beginning of creation, it is the anniversary of the formation of mankind which occurred on the sixth day. However, because the whole purpose of the universe was for the creation of humanity, the only specie that was endowed with free choice, the day Adam and Chava made their debut on the world stage, Hashem considered it as Rosh Hashana.
One other point of clarification, kings only become powerful rulers after their future subjects willingly accept them and commit themselves to their authority. Only Adam and Chava, who were endowed with free choice could fill this requirement. Hence, the day of the creation of mankind marked the true beginning of creation.
In a sense, the relationship between a king and his subjects is symbiotic. The king needs to be accepted as the ultimate authority by his loyal subjects. His word is the final statement on any decision. Life and death rests in his hands. But he accepts upon himself to take care of the people, provide for all their needs and protect them from all forces of evil.
You might say Hashem wears several hats. In Judaism’s holy writings and oral traditions, He is described as a God Who is the Power of all powers, a God who is Eternal, Master of the universe, Creator of the universe, and more. In His personal relationship to the Jewish people, He portrays Himself as King and Father. These two identities incorporate all of His attributes and all of the other identities that He is known by.
God’s portrayal as King and Father are of equal status to us, and each requires a different approach to connecting to Him. However, it’s His identity as King which dominates Jewish liturgy and the Torah’s written and oral law. In our daily rituals and prayers, we are constantly declaring His Sovereignty.
We understand from this priority that to serve Hashem the way He expects us to we must train to be true servants in His Monarchy, what it means to have a king. Therefore, Hashem prepared for us a training plan to this end. Included in the tool kit is the Torah that lays out His expectations and the days of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and even Shabbat and the other days of Yom Tov when His Sovereignty is emphasized. Further, He encouraged mankind to embrace human kings and serve them with grandeur and glory. Of course, this includes Moshiach who will descend from the royal house of David.
Perhaps the most important tool in the box is the chinuch-educational tool. If children are prepared properly during their formative years, from early childhood, they will grow to naturally recognize the importance of monarchy in their lives and ultimately truly embrace Hashem as King. The tools I am referring to are the great role models in a child’s life. The Torah enshrines parents and teachers as the key to molding children into Hashem’s loyal subjects.
For exceptional effectiveness in this area, the role models need to be themselves paragons as loyal subjects. But all the experts in Torah chinuch emphasize the need for the chinuch process to take place in a true chinuch environment.
In his Sefer on chinuch, Spare the Child, Rabbi Yechiel Yaakovson, the famed Torah educator, included as one of the essential ingredients for the true chinuch environment to be a structure of discipline and authority. His novel approach toward inculcating authority has as one of its byproducts the development of a worldview of authority. That means, children will come to see authority as a natural part of creation. They will learn to have great respect for their parents, teachers, Rabbis, great leaders, and all the up to Hashem.
When we consider the idea that on Rosh Hashana we are to crown Hashem as the King of all kings, we want our children to embrace this Holy life principle. Let me share a basic outline for the development of a authority in our children.
Fundamentals of Establishing Authority
Imposing authority is about one thing: persistence.
Persistence is the fundamental ingredient in chinuch which must be well understood, internalized and habituated in order to impose authority correctly.
Persistence means repeating over and over again your command to do something
Persistence should lead to three essential outcomes.
Persistence shows parent as firm and solid. Not so when he is emotional, confrontational and forcefully demanding
Unrelenting persistence develops in a child a sense of being absolutely obligated to the demand placed upon him. It improves his self-discipline
Parents. Authority will translate to the child as a world view. That authority is not just my dad, my teacher, my mom, but there is such a thing as authority in the world. It will help children respect other adults and even Hashem. He is listened to for no other reason than he is ab authority
I share this out line, although without some explanation, you may not grasp the necessary techniques to successfully implement. But at least, you can taste the philosophy behind it and consider a greater exposure to it in the future.
After Sukkot, we will plan a webinar on this very important topic.