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Jonathan Sacks 'Ethical Will' For My Children

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"Therefore we must place as our highest priority educating our children in our ideals, so that what we begin they will continue, until the world changes because we have changed." Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the British Commonwealth As parents, we all want our children to know key information about us and find worth in carrying on our values. Often I think I should begin writing an “Ethical Will” for my children. A Zava’ah, (Hebrew for Ethical Will) is a document containing your deepest beliefs, hopes and life lessons you desire your children to carry on after you are gone, to inform their lives and generations to come. First, I want my children to know I did not grow up Jewish, but I GREW UP Jewish. What do I mean by this? Oddly enough, I was raised without a religious tradition other than being told about Jesus. Raised by my grandmother, a member of the Silent Generation and my great grandmother who is best described as part of the Lost Generation (birth is unknown, earliest 1881 latest 1885). People from these generations spoke very little about their lives or beliefs, but when they did, the …show more content…

I did not march with Dr. King, but I have marched in his footsteps. My first professional job was at an organization started by a Rabbi who marched with Dr. King in Selma. For me, Black and Jewish collaboration did not end with the Civil Rights era; it was alive each time we took a stand on police brutality, affordable housing or immigrant justice with Jews, Catholics, Baptists and my kids in their strollers. Now, I try to have MLK not be a day off school, but a chance to go to join the combination of the Jewish and African American community at the Baptist church where Dr. King spoke when it was a synagogue. My hope is my Jewish children of African American descent will bridge builders of stronger and more authentic relationships between Blacks and

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