Many of the posts here are very moving. I dont have answers, and I certainly dont have THE answer. I was just make one distinction. Preventing your child from leaving observance, and how to react once they do — i believe are two separate questions. In many ways, the second question is much easier (especially when it is an adult child). I think that the first question is very difficult, if not impossible to answer. I have seen the most loving, accepting, happy home — and the child chooses another path. I have seen the opposite but the child stays. I have seen kids drift off the derech when they were forced to go to shul, and kids leave observance when they were allowed to choose whether to go to shul or not. No easy answers. As ZahavasDad wrote “each case is different.”
Menu