After the shiur (class) after shul, the kids receive some kind of treat. This week my daughter got a package of Tapuchips (potato chips). The label on the outside gives a warning in four languages that the package contains a dangerous toy, “Not suitable for children under 6 years .”
I’ve been reading Free-Range Kids at the recommendation of Sylvia-Rachel. Author Lenore Askenazy, head of the Free Range movement, is one of the Forward 50 Influential Jews of 2009 and was interviewed this week by both Time Magazine and CNN.
A number of years ago Emunah, a women’s organization with charitable projects including a chain of daycare centers, offered an 8-session course in child safety to its employees and volunteers. Since I had small children and worked with new mothers, I decided to try it out.
We got an advertising brochure for the large charity organization Kupat Hair, the City Fund, operating in haredi communities throughout Israel.
Normally they include stories of people who get into trouble, then catch a taxi/find the housekey/make the plane after promising to donate to Kupat Hair. Often the protagonists are (presumably wealthy) Americans or Europeans.
In this issue the front cover shows a picture of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky “praying for all of the children.” He’s praying that they will be accepted into the yeshiva that is best for them, and that they will pass the days of summer safely.
Chanukah Sameach! My camera is broken and I’m too lazy to scour the net, so you will have to manage without the traditional picture. As compensation I present some links.
A reader sent me the following story:
Two days ago my daughter L’s 8th grade class returned from a field trip at 9:00 PM, so they let the girls come in late the next day. An hour or so before L had to leave, her friend M called her. M was locked in her house! (Most locks in Israel need to be opened with a key even from the inside). She had lent her brother her key, and her parents were at work. Her brother was already at school. L tried to talk M through finding solutions — getting help from her parents, grandmother, aunt, etc. L kept calling back to report no success. Her parents just told her to stay home and not worry about it, and her relatives, who did not have keys to the apartment, pooh-poohed her concerns and told her to enjoy her vacation day. M was scared, and L pointed out that if there was a fire or a gas lehttp://www.amotherinisrael.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=572ak — even in a neighbor’s apartment — she would have no way to get out. We suggested that the parents send a key to her by cab, if they didn’t want to interrupt their work day to go themselves. (We keep keys with neighbors, plus we always have a key in the door so we can get out immediately in case of emergency.) M’s parents refused to help her, and stopped answering their cellphones. [MiI: This part bothers me the most.]
People expect to pray peacefully on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But the shul is overfull and there are distractions. Especially children.
The acceptable level of noise and activity varies according to the community and physical facilities. But one person’s kavanah (concentration during prayer) should not come at the expense of others’. Just because a mother can tune out her children during davening doesn’t mean everyone can.
On Yom Kippur, I mentioned to a friend that her two-year-old had pushed down a child in the aisle. The other child went to his mother to be picked up, without crying, so my friend hadn’t noticed. This happens. But if parents can’t keep an eye on children who wander, the children may be better off at home.
Reports from other communities:
Lion of Zion posted about a magazine he received entitled Gates of Chesed, consisting of articles about safety. One article called “Speeding Ticket Avoidance Tips” ought to consist of five words: Stay within the speed limit. Instead we find “Drive within 5-10 miles per hour of the surrounding traffic” and “Stay in the middle of the pack.” And the publication has the nerve to ask for donations.
Some suggestions for the next issue:
Below is my message to the woman who wrote in the alon Olam Katan, complaining about the insensitive policewoman who “attacked” her and gave her an NIS 250 ticket because her 7.5-year-old passenger was not restrained in a carseat (and possibly not even in a seatbelt):
If a child is injured or killed in an accident, it won’t matter that the child was travelling to wish her frail grandmother a happy new year. It won’t matter that the the girl’s brother sat in a car seat, that their mother doesn’t own a car, nor that the driver and the girl’s mother work in a school for special needs children. Nor will it matter whether the driver or the mother knew about the law requiring carseats for children up to eight years old.
The child would be equally injured or dead.
I’m not sure whether you are upset about the attitude of the policewoman, the unfairness of the law, or that you were caught breaking it. The policewoman was just doing her job, which is to uphold the law and protect children. If she caused you and the mother to think twice before transporting a child who is not restrained properly, she has made a difference.
According to another alon, Matzav Haruach, 82% of the religious population in Israel do not wear seatbelts in the back, compared to two-thirds of the general population. According to Beterem, 40% of children aged 0-5, and 77% of children aged 5-9, are restrained improperly or not at all.
Thanks to Rafi for sending me this blurb from 24 Dakot, a local offshoot of Yediot.
The sensationalist headline reads:
Today: The Children against “Mother Taliban”
Four of 12 children of the Beit Shemesh woman nicknamed “Mother Taliban” are expected to testify today at the trial in which she is accused of serial abuse and neglect of her children. The letter of indictment states that for nine years, the parents beat their children and whipped them with belts and cords. They even locked the children out of the house when they did not act according to their wishes. In one case detailed in the indictment, the mother extinguished a match on her son’s chest.
If you are new to this story, start here.
Read more on Update on Keren case: Children to testify today…
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