On Being Normal

It seems to me that the main avodah of an Orthodox Jewish parent is to raise normal children. This is easier said than done.

If you are a halachic MO, it is very challenging to walk the fine line of modernity while still raising a G-d-fearing child. The influences of popular culture are so base and unrefined these days that trying to straddle that line becomes increasingly more difficult.

On the other hand, the Chareidi world has largely lost its way. With their race to Chumrahland, they are missing the forest for the trees. There is little spirituality; just rote observance. With their emphasis on learning full-time over work (whether one has the kishronos or not), they are creating an unsustainable paradigm that will one day soon blow up.

So what's the answer?

There are no easy answers. There are certainly no easy communal answers. AInstead, a parent has to worry about his or her own children. A parent has to guide his or her child through the minefield of this way of life, maintaining an environment of reasonableness and normality. One must make careful choices about where to send children to school and camp, and how to behave at home, at work and at shul.

And, at the end of the day, one must daven for siyata d'Shmayah.