Christmas invites us to contemplate the Incarnation of the Lord in the home of the Holy Family of Nazareth, and to welcome Christ into our families. Let us contemplate the values that surround this sacred institution in other sister religions.
“Judaism commands us to respect our mothers and fathers — and provide for our children”. According to Stephanie Fischer, in traditional Judaism, Jewish parents and their children are bound to each other, as with other human relationships, by a series of commanded responsibilities and sacred practices. Most societies emphasize reverence for parents; post-biblical Judaism appears to have gone further than its contemporaries in mandating that parents provide for children with very specific preparations for the future. Judaism sees parents and offspring as bound to each other not only for practical or humanistic reasons, but also as a way of honoring God.
Parenting in the Torah
The Torah includes numerous mitzvot (duties) regarding the parent-child interaction. Fathers must circumcise sons on their eighth day of life (Genesis 17:10-14). Parents may not sacrifice their children, neither to a foreign deity (Leviticus 20:1) nor to God. Incest is strictly forbidden (Leviticus 18:6-7). Parents are responsible for educating their children (Deuteronomy 11:19). Firstborn sons must be redeemed from the priesthood (Exodus 13:2,13). Insults to parents are subject to grave punishment (Leviticus 20:9).
Spiritual Aspects of Parenthood
Along with these practices, Jews have also developed a deep spiritual understanding of the bond between child and parent. The Talmudic sages offer the following statement: “There are three partners in a person, the Holy One of Blessing, one’s father, and one’s mother. The Holy One of Blessing said [to the ones who honor their parents], I rest over them as if I dwelled among them, and they honored me.” Parents are seen as partners in God’s creation of each human being; therefore, to honor one’s parents is to honor God. Similarly, to display disregard, disrespect, or violence toward one’s parents is to do it to God. The place of parent as God’s representative is further emphasized through the mitzvah to teach one’s children Torah, God’s Word. Adoptive, step and foster parents are included in this sacred relationship — “He who brings up a child is to be called its father, not he who gave birth” (Shemot Rabbah 46:5), even if the mutual legal obligations are not, strictly speaking, identical. When parents offer the traditional Friday night blessing to their children, they do so as God’s emissaries.
ISLAM and THE FAMILY SYSTEM
Khurshid Ahmad, in his book Family Life in Islam, considering the pillars of the Muslim family, says that in any family there are those figures without whom a family cannot be regarded as complete. A human being is born of a father and a mother; the parents look after the child and bring it up. This child in turn attains maturity and is joined to a spouse in the golden link of matrimony. Then this couple starts their own family. Thus, we may say that the pillars of the family are father, mother, child, husband, and wife. Some people need help in their domestic chores. Therefore, Islam has added the ‘servant’ in the list. Learn more
Anna Maria Sgaramella,CMS
M.E. Province. (From In Dialogue, n. 11)
