The Real Goal

Our goal is to instill awareness of Hashem. To teach our children about Hashem. ולמדתם אתם את בניכם doesn’t mean to test our children on what they have learned—it means to teach them about Hashem! That they should understand right and wrong, according to the Torah. It means that we should teach our children about Hashem in a way that they should want to serve Him.

Surely, there need to be rules and expectations in a home and in a yeshivah. But we must remember that this is only a necessary framework and guardrail; it isn’t the essence of chinuch. We must remember the ikkar—what we really want to achieve.