Close your eyes for a moment and think back to when you were a child. What did you wish for? What did you hope for? What did you dream you would become? Childhood is near and dear to my heart, and as we begin a new school year, our 20th year, I find myself thinking about those early years and how much they shape who we become. Every day, I have the privilege of helping nurture children, creating a sense of connection and security, and planting the values of Torah deep within them. The world they are growing into is changing faster than we could ever have imagined. We cannot know exactly what their future will look like, but we can give them strong roots so they are ready to grow wherever life takes them.
In this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, the Torah tells us, “Man is a tree of the field.” A tree has roots that anchor and nourish it, a trunk and branches that grow upward and outward, and fruit that carries its seeds into the future. Chassidus teaches that we have these same three dimensions within ourselves. Our roots are our faith, the deep connection to Hashem that gives us strength and keeps us grounded. The trunk and branches represent the way we develop intellectually, emotionally, and through the choices and mitzvot that fill our lives. And then there is the fruit. Our fruit is what we give to others, the seeds we plant through our words, our example, and the values we pass on to the next generation.
We spend so much time preparing children for the future, but perhaps the greatest gift we can give them is something timeless. Strong roots. When a child knows who they are, where they come from, and that they are deeply loved and connected to Hashem, they have an anchor that no changing world can take away. And when we nurture those roots with love, security, Torah, and faith, we are doing more than raising a child for today. We are planting seeds for generations we may never meet and fruit we may never see, trusting that what we lovingly plant today will continue to grow long into the future.