Today is the 19th of Av, 5770
“A core predictor of which families produce children who grow up to be described as “mentchen” (decent and good) children is the amount and quality of time spent by parents with their children.
In a fascinating series of studies that have recently received media attention, researchers have found a direct correlation between the number of times a week parents eat dinner with their children and the risk of abusing drugs. Families that eat dinner together once a week have children with lower risk for drug-abuse than those that never do.
With each increasing night that parents and children eat together, drug abuse risk decreases to the point that there is virtually no risk for drug abuse in families in which parents and children dinner together every night.
The importance of eating dinner together is not the ‘eating’ or dinner; it’s the uninterrupted, focused interaction that seems to bear such valuable fruit” (from the book ‘Balanced Parenting’ by R. and D. Pelcovitz).
Shabbat dinner -among other things- creates a sense of belonging and responsibility: a young adult who spends quality time with his family will think twice before doing a wrong thing. Because he realizes that whatever negative action he might do, it will bear unwanted consequences to all his beloved relatives.
Shabbat dinner is a God-given gift -a night which enriches our souls and strengthens our family.
Shabbat Shalom!
Candle lighting 7:55 PM.
