* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Here are some words of wisdom from my mother-in-law, parenting counselor Ziva Meir, as articulated last night at an event we hosted together.
“In educating children, there is a principle that when parents are in the right place, connected to the best part of themselves, this will be readily apparent and rub off on their children. And if parents refine their character traits, their children will notice this too and respond in kind, without parents having to say a single word, much less shout to make their point.
Furthermore, when we feel a true and loving connection to our children, we are not threatened by their occasional misbehavior. We do not feel that all is lost since we are confident in who and where we are.
This is also true in marriage, in the work place, and in every other area of life. When we know who we are and what we are doing, the world automatically comprehends this too. When we are truly confident in ourselves, we don’t have to shout to make ourselves understood.
This is even true in the relationship between Israel and its adversaries. When the nation of Israel knows its true identity -- which is primarily that of a teacher — and is connected to its values, it possesses deterrent strength since the world respects the self-confidence that we project and wants to learn from us.”
