Jewish Family Life
I recently loved learning more about Jewish families at the time of Christ. Jewish family life centered on establishing homes of righteousness and preparing the next generation to marry and bear children of their own. Nothing in life superseded the individual's commitment and desire to marry, and bear and rear children.
Today, I fear this primary focus, even for religiously inclined individuals, is often eclipsed by the desire to be well-respected, be
financially affluent, and self-actualize, while still not doing anything
serious that would disqualify them from be classed as righteous.
It takes great faith to get married.
Our daughter, Kristin, on her wedding day with her parents and siblings.
Additionally,
there is tremendous focus on health and exercise and the shape of the
body. Today, marriages are entered at older ages than ever before, after which
parenthood is often delayed for several years and then curtailed after having a few children, so the couple can return to “more important” things such as
earning more money and making a splash in the world. Parents rear their children in ways to provide
them with an ideal childhood, while simultaneous preparing their offspring to
be very competitive academically to maximize their earning potential. Little wonder that individual and family scripture
study is lax, service and kindness to others is under-emphasized and respect for
each other, their parents and fellow beings is waning and why we are finding
that interpersonal violence is skyrocketing, even in our most intimate relationships. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportBook.pdf
For traditional Jewish families, in the meridian of time, it was different:
For traditional Jewish families, in the meridian of time, it was different:
1.
They knew that marriage was the first
commandment instituted by God. After he
created the world and Adam, the Lord said, it was “not good” for man to be
alone.
2.
In the
Jewish family the preparation for their child’s marriage began at his or her
birth.
3.
Men were
to be married by the time they were 18 and at 13 a boy was considered of marriageable
age. For a girl it was 12 and one
month. A baby boy was often called a
“little bridegroom”.
4.
At an early
age, children were taught the responsibilities of social and religious customs. The importance of obedience and respect was
taught to children by their parents.
Everything parents did prepared their children for their future
responsibilities as parents and faithful marriage partners.
5.
It wasn’t
the responsibility of individuals to find a spouse. It was the parents’ responsibility, sometimes
asking for the help of a matchmaker. Children
and youth didn’t put their energies into finding a future suitable spouse,
their job was to put their efforts into becoming a suitable spouse. The word for parent in Hebrew has the root of
yareh, which means to teach, instruct and direct. For parents they were to do three things: To love God, remember His commandments always,
and teach their children at every possible opportunity.
6.
“Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God, is One
Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord with
all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might”, (Deuteronomy
6:4-5). This scripture is called the
Shema. It was written on parchment,
rolled up and then placed in a small cylinder and fixed on the doorpost. This cylinder that contained this parchment
was called a mezuzah. A child was taught early in life to join his
parents in the practice of kissing his fingers and touching the mezuzah each
time they entered or left their home. It
was to remind them to consistently represent the Lord well when leaving the
home and to focus on this when they returned.
 |
| Teaching youth is a primary function of the family. Aunt Kristin takes time to teach some of her nephews. |
Latter-day Saints are encouraged to be familiar with the
learning of the Jews. In my last blog
post on the Parable of the Wise Virgins, I explained how understanding what
took place in ancient Jewish weddings was such a perfect metaphor for the
second coming of Christ. Additionally,
LDS believe that the gospel of Christ was restored in Latter-days by means of
revelation and that this restored religion incorporates all the elements of the
Church of Christ that was functional during the meridian of time. Along with the restoration of the gospel,
Joseph Smith was led to the location where we believe a history of
ancient American Israelite prophets on this American continent, was deposited. We believe
this compilation of histories, that covered a length of time from approximately
600 B.C. to 400 A.D., serves as a second witness of Christ. It was
my reading of this book and asking of its truthfulness that led to my
conversion to the LDS faith. One
scripture passage that I appreciate in the Book of Mormon explains who shall benefit
from Christ’s taking upon himself the sins of the world.
“Behold I say unto
you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his
seed. And now what say ye? And who shall be his seed? Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has
heard the words of the prophets, ye, all the holy prophets who have prophesied
concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have
hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people,
and have looked forward to that day for a
remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or
they are the heirs of the kingdom of God.
For these are they whose sins he has borne, these are they for whom he
has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed”, (Mosiah
15:10-13).
LDS individuals are not only commanded to be familiar with
the Holy Bible, but the Book of Mormon,
the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price and the words of past and
living prophets of the Church of Jesus Christ.
For example, President Ezra Taft Benson, wrote words of advice to men,
women and youth as it relates to families.
He often quoted prophets who preceded him. Because this is a blog written for women, I
include this video of him speaking to the women of the LDS church:
I once had a dream that I will long ponder and
remember. In the dream, an individual
approached me and asked if I wanted to see an ancient oil lamp. I was very excited because the parable of the
wise virgins already meant a great deal to me and I immediately said yes. He showed me the lamp and I felt so privileged
to see this lamp. He then asked me if I
wanted to see a modern-day lamp. I
wasn’t as excited, but didn’t want to be rude and I said that I would like to
see one. He showed it to me and it was
identical to the firs lamp.
As I pondered the dream, I realized that it likely did refer to the
parable of the wise virgins. What
qualified the ancients to be among the wise, are the very things that qualify
us today. They had to live by
faith. They had to be willing to follow
the commandments and the prophets. They
had to proceed on courses of righteousness before they knew the end from the
beginning. They had to be different from
the worldly. It takes great faith to
marry. It takes great faith to have
children. The words of the prophets and
the idea that men are to provide for their families and that women have the
responsibility to bear, care for and rear the children is now being considered
as socially constructed fruits of white, male privilege, and that the
promotion of traditional marriage between a man and a woman is likewise. Promoting strong families has been the duty
of prophets since the time of what we believe was the first prophet, Adam. Either Christ was who he said he was or he wasn't. Either the Bible, as far as it is translated
correctly, is the word of God or it isn’t.
Either the Book of Mormon is a body of scripture preserved by the hand
of God or is isn’t. Prophecies
concerning the Last Days are throughout the Bible and the New Testament, the
Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.
I am familiar with those prophecies and they reflect our modern-day
society perfectly. It would be a time
when good would be called evil and evil good.
The prophet Mormon, who abridged the writings of American prophets and after
whom the Book was named, saw our day.
Having a large family is often seen as fool-hearty today.
But, seeking to raise a family in righteousness, we believe,
should be the primary focus of a Christian family.
“Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye
are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath
shown you unto me, and I know your doing.
And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are
none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts,
unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes and malice, and
persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, year, even every
one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. For behold, ye do love money, and your substance,
and your fine apparel, and the adorning of yours churches, more than ye love
the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers,
who see yourselves for that which will canker, and why have ye polluted the
holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed
to take upon you the name of Christ? Why
do ye not think that greater is the value of endless happiness than that misery
which never dies—because of the praise of the world?” (Mormon 8: 35-38).
I believe in the importance of education, prudence,
brotherly kindness. I love taking care
of a home and seeking to beautify it. Health is important. I try to eat right and I exercise daily. At the age of 64, I went back to school and
am soon to complete a master’s degree.
However, even now, my heart and my thought centers primarily upon my
family. I stayed home and cared for my
children for 30 years and did not work during that time. During that time my energies were at home
and not the market place. I am so
grateful for a husband who allowed me that privilege. Throughout the history of the world, faith
has always preceded the miracle.
I was blessed to be engaged in mothering at the same time I was grandmothering. My youngest Alyse, far right, was only eight at the time this photo was taken.
How can we better establish a Christ-centered home? I believe it is in the establishment of our own righteous traditions. Just as Jewish families paused as they entered and left their homes, we can take time to pray morning and evening as families. We can daily consecrate our performances unto the Lord as we pray individually. Taking time to daily read scriptures with our families and taking a few minutes to discuss the miracles of the day can do much to remind us of why we are here on earth. Counseling together as parents as to the use of our time, money and energies can both unite us a couple and help us consider what really are our top priorities. I believe a great threat to modern families is the media and its influence to undermine rather than reinforce the values we want our children to have and thus as parents, we need to take the primary responsibility to teach our children the gospel. The LDS Doctrine and Covenants reinforces this principle, "But, I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth", (D&C 93:40). Most importantly, we can't teach faith if we don't have faith. Most of my prayers are engaged in asking God to help me set my own heart in order, that my influence upon others around me, may be an influence for good.
With Love,
Vicki Robinson
