Something we must learn from children
We all must be careful not to convey prejudices to our children. Rather we should learn from them how to be non-judgmental
One Sukkot while I was living in England I was invited to talk to children at a public school about the festival of Sukkot. Although the school was not located in a Jewish area and most of the students were children of immigrants and had probably never met a Jew before they were nonetheless knowledgeable about Judaism and respectful of its customs.
It was a pleasure talking to children who had not yet been influenced by stereotypes and prejudices.
However, my visit was marred by the following encounter: After speaking to the last class the teacher chose a girl of the Muslim faith to show me out. As we walked across the playground the father of the child accompanying me spotted us, he immediately approached us and asked his daughter what she was doing.
She explained that her teacher had asked her to show the rabbi out. His displeasure was evident and he told his daughter to go back to the class and that he would take over.
Suspicions
As he accompanied me, he quizzed me as to what I was doing at the school. I explained that I had been invited to the school to talk about Judaism. To this he replied sternly, “You know we are Muslim don’t you?” and he thus continued to ask – ever more accusingly - where I was heading and for what purpose. He was visibly relieved when I explained that all I wanted was to be shown the exit.
Whether he thought that I – a rabbi – was an aspiring new teacher at the school or that I was trying to convert the pupils, I am not sure; however, one thing is clear: He was not happy with my presence. It is probable that I was the first Jew that this man had ever met and his response was apprehension and suspicion. I sensed that his daughter was uncomfortable with the suspicion in which her father viewed me.
The fact that schools acquaint children with other religions and cultures is fantastic. However, that alone is not enough - children are not born with prejudices they pick them up from their parents.
Clearly the father's behavior that day was not representative of all Muslims, however the incident is instructive for us all - members of all faiths and cultures. We all must be careful not to convey prejudices to our children. Rather, on the contrary, we should learn from them how to be non-judgmental.
The day has come for the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi (3:24): "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children." Do we have the humility and courage to become or children’s students? If we do generations of prejudices could be dispelled.
Rabbi Levi Brackman is executive director of Judaism in the Foothills and the author of numerous articles on a whole range of topics and issues, many of which can be found on his website
