Teaching Emuna to Children

Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody

The Shavuot Holiday is is living proof of our unbroken chain of teaching Torah from father to son and from rabbi to pupil that extends all the way back to Mount Sinai. And, the most important aspect of teaching our children Torah is to teach them the Torah’s most important mitzva – the mitzva of emuna.

A parent who knows how to instill a child with emuna and the love of Hashem needs no further advice in child education. Much of the theories floating around today are none other than “band-aids” if they ignore the principles of emuna. If a child doesn’t learn emuna, educating him becomes a much tougher task. And, if the parent is far from emuna himself, then he certainly can’t be a truly positive example for his child.

A parent should consequently strive to strengthen himself in emuna; this is his main task in educating his children. As we learn in the initial chapters of The Garden of Emuna, a parent must completely internalize the three basic laws of emuna, namely:

1. Everything comes from Hashem;

2. Everything is for the very best;

3. Everything happens for a purpose – there is a Divine message within every occurrence.

The above three principles must be children’s guiding light from the beginning of their lives. No child is too young to learn emuna. Once a child has emuna, teaching him good habits is an easy task. Rebbe Nachman of Breslev said that acquiring emuna is our main task on earth. We should therefore concentrate on teaching our children emuna.

My students and I circumvent the globe with the prodigious task of teaching and spreading emuna. In essence, we’re attempting to rectify the wrong things that people were taught as children. Their lives would have been so much easier had they grown up with emuna. As such, by teaching our children emuna, we are saving them untold grief.

To be sure, we as parents are not the sole influences on our children. We might be teaching them emuna, but at school they might be learning something else. The opposite is also true – a child might have a wonderful emuna-oriented teacher, yet at home there’s everything but emuna. A child must have access to emuna values both at home and at school, which behooves us to find the right educational framework for our children as well as constantly reinforce ourselves in emuna.

Unfortunately, there’s a lack of emuna education even in Orthodox Jewish schools. We have encountered Yeshiva students who have yet to learn the basics of emuna. If a future rabbi goes for a walk in the park, yet he feels “idiotic” about talking to Hashem, then his emuna is not only insufficient, it’s nonexistent.

It’s imperative for a child to grow up in an emuna environment, exposed to emuna from morning through night. A child’s connection to The Creator is vital for his emotional and spiritual health. Parents must exemplify emuna and talk to their children about emuna. A child must go to bed at night with stories of simple emuna, such as our books Little Nachman, King David, and Worry Worm.

Again, parental personal example is most important. With the media and modern society constantly mocking emuna and traditional values, a child can’t possibly grow in spiritual strength if his parents don’t live and breathe emuna. A parent certainly can’t preach prayer, faith, and observance if he is not a strong role model. Indeed, a parent with strong emuna doesn’t have to preach at all. And, when you can raise excellent children without hounding and preaching at them, then parenting is a pleasure.