Children And Spirituality

הטבעיות הטהורה של נשמת האדם יכולים אנו להכיר בהבחנה עמוקה וחודרת בקטנותו של אדם, בתקופת הילדות - בעוד לא נזדהמה נשמתו בזוהמת השאור שבעיסה שבמהומת החיים. בהבנה מבוררות רואים אנו כמה נוח אז הוא האדם לקבל רגש אלקי וכמה הוא מוכשר להיות מושפע לחבת קדושה ויראת שמים, תיכף משבא לכלל דעה כל שהיא

המאמר קרבת אלהים בספר מאמרי הראיה עמ' 32-39

We can recognize the purity of the human soul during the period of childhood before the soul has been contaminated by the illicit desires and forbidden yearnings of life. With a clear penetrating perspective we can observe how easy it is to inculcate children with spiritual feelings, holiness and fear of G-d, from the time the child has reached the most basic level of intellectual comprehension.

Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook used to show his students an article written by a Communist Russian psychologist in the 1920's. He observed that small children are more inclined to believe in G-d and not to accept Commnist ideas. After being continuously indoctrinted with atheistic ideals eventually the child moves away from religious belief. [The article can be found in the sefer Tzadik Be'emunaso Yichye page 433-434.]

SWEETEST FRIENDS!! Let us educate our children in purity. Rav Kook believed that one should study secular studies - ONLY AFTER MANY YEARS OF INTENSELY JOYFUL TORAH STUDY. This writer feels a lacuna in his soul to this day because of all of the foreign knowledge and experiences he digested as a child. He hopes he is giving his kids better.

PS - This post is being written from the very place where I absorbed those foreign ideas. MAY IT BE A KAPPARA AND MAY HASHEM RESTORE MY INNATE PURITY.

AND YOURS TOO, BELOVED FRIENDS!!:-)