Talmud Class: Parenting Through the Lens of Revelation

Last week, we cut Eder’s hair for the first time in celebration of his third birthday. As he grows, Solomon and I find ourselves thinking more intentionally about the kind of parents we hope to be. How do we offer the scaffolding and boundaries that help a child to flourish? What does it mean to guide with love, clarity, and presence? What does it mean to be a good parent?

As it turns out, Shavuot has something to say about all of this. Revelation wasn’t a single moment or a single style. God didn’t give Torah once, in one voice, with one emotional tone. Instead, revelation unfolded gradually — sometimes with thunder, sometimes with quiet, sometimes through story, sometimes through relationship. Each moment was shaped so the people could actually receive it.

In this class, we’ll explore Torah’s revelation stories and midrashic portraits of divine communication alongside different models of parenting. But beneath the texts lies a deeper question: How do we share wisdom, values, and truth in ways that can truly be heard — by our children, by our communities, and by the world we’re trying to build?