Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it. -Proverbs 22:6

“Mom, stop it!” yes, once again I had embarrassed my pre-teen son in public. “Why do you have to stop and talk to every baby you see!”  He was reprimanding me for, once again, engaging an unknown baby in a highchair at a restaurant.  I thought for a moment, flailing about for a good answer… then it hit me. “Ari, it’s just that, well, it’s just that they are such, such POTENTIAL HUMANS!” 

Yes, that was it.  Each and every Cheerios gumming baby or toddler I encountered, whether lashed into a stroller at the airport, or belted into a grocery cart, or strapped into a car seat was a “potential human.”

I love looking into their eyes, I love talking to them, I love watching them get sucked in, ever so briefly, by a mimed game of patty-cake or peek-a-boo, or throwing kisses.  And just for a moment, the eyes flash, or there is a squeal of joy, or a surreptitious wave.

Which brings us to last week’s Tot Shabbat at my synogogue.  We had seven little ones, with parents, including a set of two-year-old twin boys.  I was THRILLED!  Even more thrilling was the fact that all those parents had sought out a congregation, learned about Tot Shabbat, and trudged out on a wintery Saturday morning, driving in from Bristow, Manassas, and Gainesville, none of which were all that close to where we meet. The parents were in full voice, and game for anything. They prayed, they carried the Torah and marched down the hallway singing a rousing rendition of  “Torah Tzivalanu Moshe” as their children, carrying seven little stuffed Torahs, marched behind.  Every parent clapped on cue, or modeled the appropriate sound effect as we worked our way through Shabbat and Tu B’shevat songs, Tu B’shevat stories, as well as Tu B’shevat foods! 

From the reaction of the Tots, it was evident that the ritual items of Shabbat, candles, challah, and Kiddush cup, as well as the blessings had already been incorporated into the rhythm of their week. These parents had made it a priority to “make Shabbat” for their little ones. And before we concluded, the parents were putting together a plan for TOT HAVDALAH, in the home of one of our members. 

Suddenly, all the negativity I had felt from reading article after article on the decline of Judaism sparked by the results of the Pew Study on Jewish Americans, simply faded from my mind. There, before my eyes, were committed parents and Jewish children, not statistics.

I took a deep breath, and let it out. Not only were these little ones “potential humans” but they were also, “potential Jews.”  God willing, we as a community, will take it upon ourselves to nurture these seedlings so that we may grow the next crop, the next generation, of committed Jewish families.

Rabbi Rose