Parenting Assists in a Parent's Personal Perfection - Cooper Invitational 2015 - Parashat Chaye Sarah - November 6, 2015
What an exciting Shabbat for the Memphis Jewish Community! We are so happy to welcome the 15 teams from Jewish High Schools around the country who are in Memphis to participate in the ninth annual Cooper Tournament. Thursday’s competition was fierce and Thursday night’s program - dinner, speaker and a movie – was engaging. All of the competition will be held at the Memphis Jewish Community Center – come out and cheer on the Macs!
Thursday night’s program featured Raheem Shabazz – a local trainer who works with high school, college and professional athletes. Mr. Shabazz told his story of growing up as a star athlete in Chattanooga who earned his way to compete on The Ohio State University football team. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury during his college career and ended up dropping out of school. Out of school and father of a two-year-old son, Mr. Shabazz was destitute. He was living in his car with his son, could not provide basic needs for himself or for his child and did not have any prospects for a job.
Mr. Shabazz described one particular night which was a turning point in his life. For four hours he considered how he would take care of himself and, more importantly, how he would take care of his son. He resolved to work harder than anyone else around him – and through his hard work – to surpass those who had more natural ability, education or experience. He described being hired by a bank (despite his lack of training) and outperforming all of his co-workers. He described eventually starting his own training business and achieving wild success.
Ultimately, what motivated Mr. Shabazz? Certainly competition was a tool that he used to motivate himself. But what triggered him to act so decisively? It seems that he was motivated by a feeling of responsibility – a feeling of responsibility for his son.
Certainly, the hard-wired feeling of responsibility of a parent for a child is a Divine gift that is of great benefit for our children. Children would not survive without a parent to watch over them and take care of them. Mr. Shabazz's story shows that this noble feeling of parent responsibility is of great benefit to the parent, as well. The instinct motivates a parent to improve him or herself for the welfare of the child.
This idea – that the exercise of parental responsibility helps in the perfection of the parent – is expressed by a well-known baraita in Masechet Kiddushin. “Our Rabbis teach, the father is obligated with respect to his son to circumcise (brit milah), redeem (pidyon haben), teach him Torah, take a wife for him and teach him a trade. Some say, to teach him to swim.” Certainly, each of these acts on behalf of the child will help the child. The child won’t need to worry about circumcision, redemption, etc. He will be educated. He will be married and have a job. He’ll know how to swim. But a mitzvah is more than simply an act of kindness. A mitzvah helps in the perfection of the one who performs the mitzvah. By obligating a father in these parental responsibilities, the Torah is motivating the father to attain his own perfection.
Shabbat Shalom.
Thursday night’s program featured Raheem Shabazz – a local trainer who works with high school, college and professional athletes. Mr. Shabazz told his story of growing up as a star athlete in Chattanooga who earned his way to compete on The Ohio State University football team. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury during his college career and ended up dropping out of school. Out of school and father of a two-year-old son, Mr. Shabazz was destitute. He was living in his car with his son, could not provide basic needs for himself or for his child and did not have any prospects for a job.
Mr. Shabazz described one particular night which was a turning point in his life. For four hours he considered how he would take care of himself and, more importantly, how he would take care of his son. He resolved to work harder than anyone else around him – and through his hard work – to surpass those who had more natural ability, education or experience. He described being hired by a bank (despite his lack of training) and outperforming all of his co-workers. He described eventually starting his own training business and achieving wild success.
Ultimately, what motivated Mr. Shabazz? Certainly competition was a tool that he used to motivate himself. But what triggered him to act so decisively? It seems that he was motivated by a feeling of responsibility – a feeling of responsibility for his son.
Certainly, the hard-wired feeling of responsibility of a parent for a child is a Divine gift that is of great benefit for our children. Children would not survive without a parent to watch over them and take care of them. Mr. Shabazz's story shows that this noble feeling of parent responsibility is of great benefit to the parent, as well. The instinct motivates a parent to improve him or herself for the welfare of the child.
This idea – that the exercise of parental responsibility helps in the perfection of the parent – is expressed by a well-known baraita in Masechet Kiddushin. “Our Rabbis teach, the father is obligated with respect to his son to circumcise (brit milah), redeem (pidyon haben), teach him Torah, take a wife for him and teach him a trade. Some say, to teach him to swim.” Certainly, each of these acts on behalf of the child will help the child. The child won’t need to worry about circumcision, redemption, etc. He will be educated. He will be married and have a job. He’ll know how to swim. But a mitzvah is more than simply an act of kindness. A mitzvah helps in the perfection of the one who performs the mitzvah. By obligating a father in these parental responsibilities, the Torah is motivating the father to attain his own perfection.
Shabbat Shalom.
Comments
Post a Comment