Dressing with love When you bathe & dress the child, remember that Eshet Chayil dresses her household in scarlet and purple, which may be interpeted as clothing that is liked & respected in one’s community. Jewish teachings on education say to educate the child according to the child’s way, not according to a one-size-fits-all teaching policy. Young children often like bright colored clothing with picures of flowers and cute little animals. If you want a child to care about his or her clothing, let the child make choices amongst clothing that parents have selected as appropriate for the weather and occasion. And the clothes shouldn’t be so delicate and expensive that the parents get upset when they get dirty. Clean hand-me-downs are fine.
2. DvoraPhilly
5/20/2009
When you bathe & dress the child, remember that Eshet Chayil dresses her household in scarlet and purple, which may be interpeted as clothing that is liked & respected in one’s community. Jewish teachings on education say to educate the child according to the child’s way, not according to a one-size-fits-all teaching policy. Young children often like bright colored clothing with picures of flowers and cute little animals. If you want a child to care about his or her clothing, let the child make choices amongst clothing that parents have selected as appropriate for the weather and occasion. And the clothes shouldn’t be so delicate and expensive that the parents get upset when they get dirty. Clean hand-me-downs are fine.
3. Chava
5/18/2009
Rav Lazer, thanks for bringing this up. I was called nasty names growing up – not so much by my parents, but by schoolmates and “play”mates – daily for years. If they could’ve played “seamstress” and pricked me with pins, I have no doubt some of them would have. All this due to having a Jewish name, where Jews were hated!
Add to this my middle name – exotic, non-Jewish, and, it turns out, a curse due to its association with a famous prostitute. What do you suppose that had to do with my neshama yehudit? Reflection, or pollution?
5/20/2009
Dressing with love When you bathe & dress the child, remember that Eshet Chayil dresses her household in scarlet and purple, which may be interpeted as clothing that is liked & respected in one’s community. Jewish teachings on education say to educate the child according to the child’s way, not according to a one-size-fits-all teaching policy. Young children often like bright colored clothing with picures of flowers and cute little animals. If you want a child to care about his or her clothing, let the child make choices amongst clothing that parents have selected as appropriate for the weather and occasion. And the clothes shouldn’t be so delicate and expensive that the parents get upset when they get dirty. Clean hand-me-downs are fine.
5/20/2009
When you bathe & dress the child, remember that Eshet Chayil dresses her household in scarlet and purple, which may be interpeted as clothing that is liked & respected in one’s community. Jewish teachings on education say to educate the child according to the child’s way, not according to a one-size-fits-all teaching policy. Young children often like bright colored clothing with picures of flowers and cute little animals. If you want a child to care about his or her clothing, let the child make choices amongst clothing that parents have selected as appropriate for the weather and occasion. And the clothes shouldn’t be so delicate and expensive that the parents get upset when they get dirty. Clean hand-me-downs are fine.
5/18/2009
Rav Lazer, thanks for bringing this up. I was called nasty names growing up – not so much by my parents, but by schoolmates and “play”mates – daily for years. If they could’ve played “seamstress” and pricked me with pins, I have no doubt some of them would have. All this due to having a Jewish name, where Jews were hated!
Add to this my middle name – exotic, non-Jewish, and, it turns out, a curse due to its association with a famous prostitute. What do you suppose that had to do with my neshama yehudit? Reflection, or pollution?