Taking a Step Back

Very often in chinuch, experts will tell parents to take a step back. Don’t criticize. “But,” the father will say, “all I am doing is telling him is to learn... or not to do the wrong thing.” The instincts of the father are to say something, to try and guide his child on the right path. “What is the purpose of withholding?” they ask.

The answer is that there is a very big purpose. When we hold ourselves back from saying something negative, we have now worked on our character. We want to do something, but we remember that this is not right, our actions are only in the category of בא ליטהר... to do our part, and nothing more.