What a joy it was to see so many grandparents and special friends Friday afternoon at our Sarfan Early Childhood Center's annual Grandparents Day. The room was full of Bubbies and Zaydes, Nannys and Papas, Grammys and Gramps. As the children led their performances, there is only one word I could use to describe the glowing faces of those in the room: nachas.
Nachas is a Yiddish phrase to describe one of the most precious commodities we have. Difficult to translate into English, nachas is understood to be a combination of pride and joy in the achievement of our children. Nachas comes from when we really feel that we have raised our children with the values that we cherish.
In a few weeks, we will gather around Passover Seder tables with our extended families to reenact the journey of our ancestors to freedom. Four times during that journey, Moses speaks about the duty of parents to educate their children, sharing their family's story until it becomes their own.
In the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, "the world we build tomorrow is born in the stories we tell our children today. If you want a free society, teach your children what oppression tastes like. Tell them how many miracles it takes to get from here to there. Above all, encourage them to ask questions. Teach them to think for themselves. Get them to continue the heritage not through blind obedience — the worst preparation for liberty — but through active, challenging conversation across the generations. That’s how we learnt, as children, about the long walk to freedom. It’s how we came to take our ancestors’ story as our own."
Can you think of the stories and values that were shared with you and shaped you into the person you are today? Who shared them with you and how? And how do you continue that legacy, educating and inspiring future generations?
On Grandparents Day, you could feel that connection between grandparents and grandchildren. May we continue to feel great nachas!
Shabbat Shalom,
Eric Maurer
Executive Director
emaurer@ujcvp.org
