Raising children with soul in today's world is
a difficult mission. This site, guided by Raising A Child With
Soul , is here to help. Listen to what some parents
are saying after attending Slovie's classes:
When I became a mother, a friend took me to a Hineni parenting
class taught by Slovi Wolff. That first class changed my life. As I listened to
Slovi speak, her words, wisdom and warmth moved me. With each class, I became a
better person, mother, wife and member of the jewish community. From learning
the importance of Shabbat to raising children with confidence not arrogance,
Slovi's teachings will forever be incorporated in my every day life.
At first I was thinking that Torah parenting is as essential as
providing food, clothing, and shelter for your family. It is the essence of my
home. Without Torah values, my children would grow up to be just like any other
child. Torah makes us whole. Torah makes us special. Torah is more important
than everything else, and puts all of the little things in life into
perspective. And,it is a feeling that spreads into all areas of my life. I
don’t think that I could live without Torah.
Then I was thinking that Torah is like the icing on the cake. One can live a
life without Torah, but it would be a life missing meaning. It would be
superficial, and ordinary. Anyone can stay home Friday night. But once the
challah is baked and the candles are lit, life changes. Torah turns Friday into
Shabbas. Torah turns a family discussion into a history lesson. Torah parenting
class turns an afternoon discussion into ideas and values that one can think
about all day. It is the meat and potatoes, and the icing on the cake.
Today more than ever my husband and I feel a deep desire to bring
healing and goodness into the world. We do what we can in terms of charity and
kindness but feel that with G-d's help our real contribution will be our
children. Slovie is helping us raise children who feel a responsibility not
only to be "good" but to be ambassadors for G-d and Judaism- that is Torah
parenting – it goes beyond just being “nice and polite.” We pray and hope that
they will make deep and lasting contributions to the Jewish people and society
at large. Slovie has taught us that the only real way to accomplish any of this
is to teach our children by example, and she has shown us so many ways to make
our lives more spiritual, more peaceful, more meaningful. Our home feels
tangibly different – it feels like a Torah home in the midst of a material and
competitive world.
I started going to Slovie's parenting class in December '04
I had a 6 year old, 7 year old and an 11 year old at that time
I had always told my children, as my parents told me, "Stick and stones will
hurt your bones but names will never harm you" I learned soon there after that
I had been wrong my entire life.
The torah teaches that broken bones can heal, but hurting words can break a
soul and spirit forever.
I learned this in my parenting class
I consider myself blessed to have gotten this message LOUD and CLEAR at 37
I wish it had come earlier
Torah parenting sparks something in my heart that has always been
there, but I never knew it. It is almost as if all of my thoughts and dreams
for raising my children are actually written in the torah, but with so much
more meaning behind each and every idea. Of course I want my children to be
compassionate, but it’s not so easy to instill this characteristic in them. The
torah gives us a bigger framework to learn from where all of the ideas come
together. I still love how easily my kids grasped the concept of doing a
mitzvah and it helped me reinforce the compassion I want them to feel towards
each other and to others.
It is hard for me to imagine my former life with no Torah. Torah now permeates
every part of my daily life. Starting with the morning prayer and just
thanking G-D for being alive, to stumping my toe and recognizing that
nothing is an accident, to not mixing milk and meat, to jumping on the
opportunity to do a mitzvah, to giving Sedaka, to trying to be a person of Emis
and Chesed, to saying the Shema with my children and so much more. There is not
a decision that I make during my day that I don't try to think about how Hashem
would want me to handle this situation. Baruch Hashem for Torah study!!!
Torah parenting is a constant awareness that my children are "little souls on
lend" that they are not ours alone and that it is our obligation and really our
honor to raise them in the way they were intended to be. They were all created
with their own fingerprint and their own mission for this world. Torah
parenting is the method to uncovering each child’s greatness. It is my greatest
blessing to allow my children to have the beauty, strength….greatness and
connection that was intended for them. When we started on this journey we did
not understand that in the process we would uncover that which was created for
us.
Thank you to my Teacher Slovie who has given me the wisdom and vision that has
changed our lives.