Limmud Toronto 2019

Much of Jewish family life and education is built on acquainting our children with the strengths and beauties of our tradition and persuading them to follow this way of life.
But we know it doesn’t work for all children, all of the time. Nor may it equip our children to face the physical, mental and spiritual dangers they may encounter.
Some will say adding darker questions and topics may undermine the goals of making our children into the next generation of Jews. But that risk and others are already out there. They include:
1. Giving our children mental or religious pabulum;
2. Expecting teen-aged children and young adults to face the attractive questions and ideologies they encounter in the wider world without a solid intellectual and argumentative repertoire;
3. Depriving them of an adult version of our tradition.
But what if by omitting troubling questions we are not helping our children and students but actually hurting them by omission?
And if we do introduce difficult topics, at what age and in what complexity?
Today’s session will be a combination of presentation and workshop with texts, letting us define and start to address these issues.