Devora* walked into her seminary interview, ready for the barrage of  questions, the transcript-scan, and the infamous Ramban. The first question caught her off guard. 

‘How are you going to instill a passion for Yiddishkeit in your children?’

Um.

No amount of Ramban practice could have prepared her for this. 

The seminary principal reached into her bag and pulled out an 8 ounce plastic cup, which she placed on the desk between them. She took the water pitcher and filled the cup about seven-eighths of the way. 

She paused, looked pointedly at Devora, then poured a little more, until the water reached the top of the cup and overflowed, splashing gently onto the desk.  

‘When the cup is almost full, it’s good, but it’s not enough to spill over. We need to first make sure that we, ourselves, feel that passion and excitement for our Yiddishkeit, and then it will automatically overflow and spill over to our children....’

It’s a lesson that she lives every day of her life. 

There is a well known anecdote about the 5 year old girl who would wind up her jumprope in the most peculiar way at the end of recess. One astute assistant commented to the teacher, “I think it’s time for her father to stop putting on tefillin at home…”

There are no secrets from today’s children. 

While, ‘Do as I say and not as I do,’ may have worked for parents a few decades ago, that is no longer the reality today. Our children are ever-present receptacles, constantly absorbing the nuances, moods, and atmospheres that surround them.

“What makes your Mommy very happy?” A teacher polled her class.

‘When my cleaning lady comes!’

‘When she gets a manicure!’

‘When Natives go on sale!’

The answers were the most compelling statistics yet.

Our children are doing the right things.

Our daughters are davening on Shabbos and Sunday.

Our sons are going to minyan and learning Gemara.

Our kids are making brachos and keeping Shabbos.

They’re doing it. Are they feeling it?

Are we?

‘There is a Hashem, and there is a relationship with Him!’ implored R’ Elya Brudny at the TU Leadership Convention. 

How can we reconnect ourselves and our children with that spark, that excitement for Yiddishkeit? 

How can we bring Hashem into their lives with an oomph that is as real to them as the hoverboard, the meatboard, the dashboard?

Let’s fill our cups to overflowing. 

So that the light in our eyes will be reflected in theirs.