Loving the Wayward Child

TOLDOT Loving the Wayward Child After years of painful infertility and childlessness, Yitzchk and Rivka are finally blessed with –not one, but- two children. Yaakov, we know is the dream boy. Perfect even in the womb. Esav, on the other hand, must’ve been every parent’s worst nightmare. Chazal teach us that by age 15 he’d already violated the three capital sins of Yiddishkeit, and was a ruthless killer. How do Yitzchak and Rivka handle this? How does every parent, faced with a wayward child, manage the challenge? There’s the threat he or she poses in terms of bad influence on the younger siblings. There’s the shame, the personal injury to one’s own parenting, and of course stigma. Yitzchak shows us the way, and it’s not what you might think. Is your child rebelling? Love him/her extra hard – squeeze them extra tight. The Rebbe taught to love every single Jew, especially those struggling with their faith.