A Tale of Two Children Living in Two Tomorrows

1. Class Description:

The Torah is unquestionably history’s greatest manual for education. For three thousand years, a nation has scrupulously observed its heritage and traditions. For three millennia, they studied, debated, and authored countless libraries of books on its every word. For three thousand years, through the hardest of circumstances, the chain of Jewish education has never been broken.

This is not a coincidence. Immediately following the Exodus, Moses emphasizes the critical importance of communicating the message to the children. “And it will come to pass that tomorrow your child will ask ‘What is this?’ And you shall tell him…” Instead of being scared of questions, Judaism always encouraged and embraced questions. When you have the answers, you are not afraid of questions.

Rashi comments that the word ‘tomorrow’ refers to “the tomorrow of now,” but also to “the tomorrow of a later time.” What does this mean? What is the tomorrow of ‘today’ and what is the ‘tomorrow’ of a later time?

There are two types of Jewish children, asking very different types of questions. One lives in a ‘tomorrow,’ yet it is a part of and a continuation of the ‘today.’ This a child who cherishes the values and ideals of his ancestors. But the other is a child who lives in a ‘tomorrow’ completely alienated from the ‘today’ A powerful gulf separates the weltanschauung of the parents and the children. Their paradigms vary drastically. We sometimes feel compelled to reject and give up on this child, but the Torah instructs us to embrace and engage him.

The class will explore these two types of children throughout Jewish history, and our sacred calling to each of them.

All I know is that I love Rabbi Yossi Jacobson...he's a 'gevald!'
'Smack!' a big kiss!

Once again your brilliant inspirations touch me deeply. May blessings flow continuously day and night for your kind heart and passionate discourse.

Thank you Rabbi....

Here are my thoughts on this lesson.

Tomorrow is a vessel into which we pour our thoughts connecting both above and below.

Paradoxically tomorrow never becomes anything but today most meaningfully this moment

The sense of Mashiach is not tomorrow but here today. It represents a change of consciousness.

The same principle applies to what we are thinking about and the way that we think about things.

Tomorrow's will always come however what we can accept upon ourselves in the moment determines the call of the day.

What is passed on comes from the first born which is why they are sacred to Hashem. The first born refers to that initial inspiration that comes from Hashem. It is the basis of every sacred connection,

What we tell our children about this inspiration is to honor it, trust, give service to it and indeed recognize it as our connection to Hashem.

So tomorrow in this context refers to that inspiration as it comes up and the child asks what is this all about.

Yes all is Hashem and especially when you make that connection within as a personal experience.

This also tells us what the meaning of bondage or slavery is in our own world terms. When we are tied to the material without regard to the spiritual we aren't able to tune in to those tomorrow's that are the lifeblood within. When Hashem willing an opening appears and you make the decision to leave behind those materials pursuits and pursue Hashem then you are suddenly living today in that tomorrow.

It isn't that you have no part of the material it is that you place it in its proper perspective.

Therefore an inspiration to study Torah or go to shul or do one more mitzvah is but another tomorrow that has become today.

This has the effect after all of bringing all of our tomorrow's home today in this now and in these moments.

In this way Maschiach is born of all those tomorrow's unified above and below and appear before as a garment all of us make step into partaking of divine connection 24/7

HUGE, Thank you!
And the education authority in israel is not POUNDED with this concept ???

Thank you very much.

I always appreciate that you bring from the Rebbe the particularly essential messages for us today (not only machar) in such a complete and informative way.

P.S. Your tie matches the curtain...

What does the answer in the pasuk mean that we give to the child: "With a mighty hand did the Lord take us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

I understand what this means for us in order to approach them but how does the answer connect to them since they feel so distant and separated from Judaism.

como puede uno no perder la emuna con hashem

Not only a great shiur, but also a good voice.
Rabbi Yossi Jacobson is the best our there.

Another brilliant shiur. Thank you.

B”H
3. Questions and Exercises
1. There are two types of children living in two types of ‘tomorrow.’ Can you describe them?
Everybody knows that there are children who live in Jewish environment with more or less strong Jewish traditions. They are like delicate beautiful flowers in a glasshouse. Its air is full of warm and sweet songs like one presented with Rabbi Jacobson… Their ‘tomorrow’ is continuation of ‘today’,their parents and grand parents live. Tomorrow they will take place at their Dads’ site (or even a step higher) in business, in shul, in hierarchy of their society and eventually will build a new glasshouse for their children. Most of their questions are around the details of the Main Construction...
But sometimes the glasshouse is broken and delicate flowers cannot survive in a cold of material world. It tears them apart, chops their dignity, and bathes their soul in sloppy physicality. Forgetting heights of life style, they turn into a weed from the field… with only one wish: to be as one with other weeds as possible. Their “tomorrow” is like “yesterday” of their ancestors that G-d took out of Egypt “with the might hand”.
2. How do you define yourself vis-a-vis your parents?
As the third generation out of glasshouse…
And your children vis-a-vis you?
They are fourth one, accordingly…
3. Do you find your children following in your footsteps, or not?
When they were young we had a lot of hiking and I did. In a modern world it’s impossible: everybody has to have his own car…
What do you think is the primary reason for this?
A lot of highways…
4. If you can do things over, what would you change?
Could I protect my poor great grandma who gave up with her son’s peer pressure and served him his first hamburger outside of her kosher kitchen?(“ Don’t kiss me”, she said to him after he finished it and she turned around and kissed him to his nape) Could I plead her to teach her grandson assert her silver Kiddush cup that is not for sale? Could I beg her to leave a request about those two beautiful candelabrums that ended at a local auction? Could I do anything at the ash of a glasshouse?
5. Why do you think the Lubavitcher Rebbe presented this idea—about the need to engage both types of Jewish children—in 1970?
Because from minority they eventually become majority.
6. Why are we obligated to engage even the second type of child?
Is it a rhetorical question?
7. How do you engage this type of child whose very paradigms are so drastically different from the Jews of yore? How do we build a bridge between the past and the present?
First, I’d like to build a bridge between two verses from Tehillim:
In Tehillim number 34 we read: “From His dwelling place He oversees all inhabitant of the earth, He who fashions their hearts together, who comprehends all their deeds.”
Number 82 states: “ …So I let them follow their heart’s fantasies – let them follow their own counsel.”
? ? ?
Let’s say that the first is about a general flaw of energy and the second deal with fragments.
So our task is to tap from the first source to organize the last.

soo relevant to all of us, tora toras emess!!