“Dovid Hamelech first validates the pain, acknowledges the suffering (whether major or trivial), and only then moves on to focusing on the merit suffering has”
After reading the piece about mothers who’ve chosen out-of-the-box parenting methods for their families, I wanted to note that what Chaya Cohen said about skipping preschool really resonated with me: A four-year-old is developmentally ready for school in a way that a three-year-old is often not. I believe that some children need group stimulation at age two; other children need the safety of being with their mother until age four. As Chaya said, just because a child will get used to it and eventually stop crying isn’t a reason to put him through what is torture for him. If a mother is able to meet her child’s desire to stay home, that provides for the child’s very significant needs on every level.
A Fan of Keeping Kids Home
I was so excited when I realized that the cover story was about none other than Jackie (Engel) Glaser. The article was excellent (and I loved learning about her new endeavors), but I feel it didn’t do justice to her greatness.
Jackie singlehandedly affected the journeys of thousands of Jewish young women. There was no one more motivated or dedicated to helping disconnected Jewish young women find their place in the Torah world. Any woman who became frum in the past ten to 15 years was likely impacted by her.
But even though at any given time Jackie could be working with dozens of girls, she made you feel like you were her only priority. I was connected with Jackie through a kiruv trip when I was 21 years old. At that point, I was more or less shomer mitzvos, but I was having a really tough time feeling “normal” and also frum.
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