Becoming a Jewish Parent : How to Explore Spirituality and Tradition with Your Children

by Gordis, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780609805268
• ISBN10: 0609805266
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press

Summary

This Programme is based on the speed learning technique developed by U.S Government experts. Includes three hours of recorded lessons in the target language, a course book and a dictionary. Uses the building block approach - from simple words and phrases to complex expressions.

Author Biography

A rabbi and professor, DANIEL GORDIS is the author of two previous books: <i>God Was Not in the Fire: The Search for a Spiritual Judaism</i> and <i>Does the World Need Jews?: Rethinking Chosenness and American Jewish Identity</i>. He and his wife are raising a daughter and two sons.

Table of Contents

A Few Words of Thanks	xvii
I SOME INTRODUCTIONS	1	(20)
Yes, You Can Do This!	3	(12)
Jewish Parenting---Not as Scary as It Sounds	5	(1)
Jewish Parenting Is Just Like Parenting!	6	(2)
Jewish Parenting Is Also About Our Own Journey	8	(2)
The Challenges We'll Face That Our Parents Didn't	10	(3)
We're All in This Together	13	(2)
How to Use This Book	15	(6)
The First Possibility: Read the Whole Book	15	(1)
A Better Idea? Don't Read the Whole Book!	16	(1)
Treat This Book as Yahoo.Com	17	(1)
There's a Mini-Dictionary, Too	18	(1)
No Reader Has to Be an Island	18	(1)
Some Concluding Thoughts	19	(2)
II THE BIG IDEAS	21	(188)
``Jewish Parenting 101'': Immersion, Memories, and Identity	23	(18)
Judaism at the Core	24	(1)
The Challenge of Contemporary America	25	(1)
Forging Identity---The Role of Immersion	26	(7)
Jewish Parents as Creators of Memories	33	(1)
The Memories We Can't Plan	34	(4)
And Finally, Identity	38	(3)
Using Jewish Life and Holidays to Create a Rhythm for Time	41	(14)
Jewish Life as Marking Time	42	(1)
The Cycles of Jewish Life	43	(6)
How to Put a Jewish Kid to Bed	49	(2)
New Traditions?	51	(2)
Moving Beyond the ``Day''	53	(2)
The Space We Make for Feelings: Why Ritual Really Matters	55	(20)
The Spiritual Emptiness Jews Too Often Feel	55	(2)
Ritual as the Key to Judaism's Spirituality	57	(3)
Ritual as a Way of Elevating the Mundane	60	(1)
Other Jewish Rituals and Expressions of Closeness	61	(7)
Ritual Is Not Only About People...	68	(7)
Making Space for God, or How We Steal Wonder from our Kids	75	(22)
The Importance of ``God-Talk''	76	(4)
What Are Kids Asking When They Ask About God?	80	(2)
What Is ``Honest'' Parenting?	82	(4)
Now for God---How ``Honest'' Should We Be?	86	(3)
Bringing God into Our Homes	89	(1)
But Is God Really That Important?	90	(2)
A Godless Judaism Makes the Tradition a Stranger	92	(2)
But What If We're Sure We Don't Believe?	94	(3)
The Wonder of Shabbat	97	(28)
Shabbat---A Palace in Time	98	(3)
Ritual and the Magic of Shabbat	101	(2)
Shabbat as a Cosmic Wedding	103	(3)
Shabbat as a Glimpse of a Perfected World	106	(3)
Shabbat's Ritual as a ``Subversive'' Social Critique	109	(5)
But Does Shabbat ``Work''?	114	(2)
Shabbat as the Anchor of the Jewish Week	116	(2)
How Much of This to Do?	118	(4)
The Most Important Thing Is to Begin	122	(3)
``Why Do We Have to?'': Getting Over Our Fear of Rules	125	(16)
They're Not the Ten Suggestions	126	(2)
Rules Show We're Serious	128	(2)
From Non-Negotiability to Constancy	130	(5)
Constancy Leads to Intensity	135	(3)
From Rules to Intermarriage	138	(3)
Rosh Chodesh and the ``Jewish Moon'': The Challenge of Girls in a Male Tradition	141	(22)
Is God a Girl?	143	(3)
Can a Woman Be a Jew?	146	(4)
Where Do We Go from Here?	150	(1)
The Importance of Role Models, Again	151	(3)
The Importance of Ritual, Again	154	(4)
Danger Zone---Beware of Mixed Message	158	(1)
Concluding Thoughts	159	(4)
``Don't Try This Alone'': It (Usually) Takes a Village	163	(28)
Communities in Jewish Life	164	(1)
Jews in Community---A Tradition That Goes Way Back	165	(1)
Your Synagogue---What Is It?	166	(4)
The Chavurah---Surrogate Family and Much More	170	(1)
Neighborhoods and Cities	171	(3)
Day School or Hebrew School?	174	(4)
Summer Camps	178	(1)
Youth Groups	179	(1)
Smaller Jewish Communities, Virtual Jewish Communities	180	(2)
Israel---Where Our Kids Learn What ``Home'' Really Is	182	(4)
The Worldwide Jewish Community	186	(1)
Grandparents: You Matter---A Lot!	187	(4)
``Don't Know Much About History'': Why Our Story Should Matter to Our Kids	191	(18)
Beyond Memory---Learning to ``Relive'' the Past	193	(3)
Why History? Another Jewish Path Toward Identity	196	(3)
Do unto Others Before They Do unto You?	199	(2)
Israel---Where History Comes Alive	201	(4)
Back to Parenting	205	(4)
III A JEWISH PARENT'S REFERENCE GUIDE	209	(146)
How to Use the ``Reference Guide'' Section	211	(2)
The Jewish Holiday Cycle: A Parent's Perspective	213	(76)
The Jewish Calendar and Its Peculiarities	215	(5)
Rosh Ha-Shannah	220	(6)
The Fast of Gedaliah	226	(3)
Yom Kippur	229	(3)
Sukkot-The Feast of Tabernacles	232	(7)
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah	239	(1)
Halloween: Is It a Jewish Issue?	240	(2)
Hanukkah	242	(8)
The December Dilemma	250	(1)
Tu Bi-Shevat	251	(2)
Purim	253	(7)
Passover	260	(9)
Counting the Omer	269	(3)
Lag Ba-Omer	272	(1)
Shavu'ot	273	(2)
The ``Three Weeks'' and the Minor Fasts	275	(1)
Tisha B'Av	276	(2)
From Destruction to Renewal	278	(1)
Modern Israeli Holidays	279	(7)
And the Seasons, They Go Round and Round	286	(3)
The Jewish Life Cycle, and Things to Think About at Each Stage	289	(66)
Celebration of Pregnancy	289	(4)
Miscarriage	293	(1)
The Moment of Birth	294	(1)
Birth Rituals for Boys	294	(7)
Birth Rituals for Girls	301	(3)
Starting School	304	(3)
They Call It Hebrew School	307	(2)
Bar/Bat Mitzvah	309	(4)
Does Bar Mitzvah Mean Graduation?	313	(3)
Puberty and Adolescence	316	(8)
Dating	324	(3)
Picking a College	327	(3)
Going to College	330	(3)
That First Apartment	333	(1)
Marriage and Weddings	334	(7)
Divorce	341	(5)
Death, Burial, and Mourning	346	(7)
A Final Thought	353	(2)
IV CONCLUSION	355	(18)
Of Models, Mermaids, and Music	357	(16)
Does Your Mailbox Know You're Jewish?	357	(2)
Judaism Can't Be Just for Kids	359	(3)
The Commitment Not to Undermine Each Other	362	(4)
Too Jewish---Overcoming That Nagging Fear	366	(7)
Appendix: A Quick Bird's-Eye View of Jewish History	373	(14)
Glossary of Terms and Names	387	(16)
Suggestions for Further Exploration	403	(16)
Index	419