In a fascinating documentary from the days of the Protective Edge War (Tammuz 5774), Maran the Teaching Page Rabbi Zilberstein Shlita is seen giving practical instructions regarding matters that were in the shelter | Since, unfortunately, the matters are still relevant today – we are sending the material for the benefit of many | The documentary:
One of the educational issues that has preoccupied parents and educators since the war is - what is the right way to convey what is happening to children? One of the main questions is about the trauma that surrounds many children from the alarms, interceptions and falls of the missiles.
In documentation published by the 'Divrei Hemed' editorial team, the gaon Rabbi Yitzhak Zilberstein appears to refer to the phenomenon in a lesson delivered about 12 years ago, during the 'Protective Edge' war.
Video: Courtesy of the 'Kol HaLashon' team'
In the documentation, the rabbi presents a letter he received from parents who asked about advice they had heard from an expert emotional therapist, advice that he claims will prevent them from being frightened by the terrifying sound of the alarms.
The advisor: "Turn these moments into an experience. It's a good idea to prepare mini sweets or small prizes, and every time the alarm sounds, distribute them to the children while they are in the protected space, thus turning those moments into sweet and joyful moments.".
And indeed, the parents testify that they did so, and the advice was helpful, and the other children in the building also began to come and ask for candy and prizes, and the alarm went from being a stressful and burdensome time to an experiential hour, to the point where a situation was created in which the children impatiently waited for the alarm to sound, to receive the next candy...
The parents continued to ask - are they allowed to buy these sweets with tithe money, as perhaps this could be considered a mitzvah.
But Rabbi Zilberstein's forceful response greatly surprised them:
""This spending is not considered a spending of a mitzvah, nor even of permission, but rather a 'sinful spending,' because any advice from that 'expert' is nothing more than the advice of Gentiles, to turn a time of trouble and cry into an 'experience.' Jewish advice is to calm the children by singing psalms to be sung in chorus, (and as is known, in times of trouble a person is obligated by the Torah to pray to God to save them from trouble). And in order to instill an atmosphere of calm and strength, one can sing with the children songs that strengthen confidence and faith, such as 'I believe in complete faith in the coming of the Messiah,' 'And she stood for our fathers and for us,' 'When Israel came out of Egypt,' and so on.".
The Posk added: "Instead of the foreign educational method of distributing sweets, one should instill in children (in a soothing and joyful manner) that the alarms are intended to straighten out the crookedness in our hearts, since 'God made them fear before Him,' and memorize in their ears the words of Maimonides: 'A commandment was made from the Torah to cry out and shout with trumpets for every calamity that comes upon the public. And this is one of the ways of repentance, that when calamity comes and they cry out and shout about it, everyone will know that it was because of their evil deeds that harm came to them, and this is what will cause them to remove the calamity from them.".
""And only after reciting the Psalms and songs of faith, when the missile is intercepted or falls in an open area, will everyone say a 'Praise Psalm,' and then it will be possible to distribute sweets and the like to the children, and this will be a 'mitzvah meal' (since there is a mitzvah from the Torah to thank and praise God after a miracle that has occurred).
In the documentary, Rabbi Zilberstein reveals a wonderful, inspiring and strengthening story, from his childhood, from the 1948 war in Jerusalem, when a woman regularly shamed people in a shelter, and about the right to be 'over the top' as a virtue and shelter in this time of trouble.
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