Rabbi Yaakov Bender has written a much needed article on drinking in our community.
What people must realize is that children look up to their parents and mimic their behavior.
Parents must practice what they preach.
Money Quote:
"I vividly remember a commercial that used to play on radio many years ago, where a deep voice would ask a number of children: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The children would invariably answer: “I want to be a policeman just like daddy.” “I want to be a doctor just like daddy.” “I want to be a lawyer just like daddy.” And finally, “I want to be a fireman just like daddy.” And then the deep voice would resonate with one question addressed to all of us out there, listening to the commercial:
“Daddy, do you smoke?”
finger pointing goes round and round. The schools pass the buck to the parents and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteParents have outsourced parenting to the Yeshivas and Botei Yaakov. It's up to the schools to make Torah so intoxicating and to get their students so high on Mitzvos that there be no need to self-medicate.
Show me a really successful Yeshiva Bochur with a drinking problem? the guys who drink are not succeeding at learning and are bored to tears.
This is not really finger pointing. It is not the job of the schools to control drinking. The point of Rabbi Bender's article is that parents can not drink at home and expect the school to stop their kids from drinking.
DeleteYes, it would be nice for all students to be intoxicated with learning, but the reality is that doesn't happen. Not anywhere.
In fact, I believe RYB has one of the few schools which offer a non academic track for students.
What's RYB?
ReplyDeleteRabbi Yaakov Bender
Delete