There are no one-way streets in our world. There is no way to give without getting, there is no one who gets but does not give.
So it is with the child. Just as the adult gives the child the knowledge and wisdom of life, so the child can give the adult the keys of how to live it.
What is it that the child has to teach?
The child naively believes that everything should be fair and everyone should be honest, that only good should prevail, that everybody should have what they want and there should be no pain or sadness. The child believes the world should be perfect and is outraged to discover it is not.
And the child is right.
Watch the child involved in an activity. Whatever the child is doing, there the child is, all the child.
A child's enthusiasm comes in a storm, taking over the child's entire world. That is why, when a child embraces a new, good trait, it enters forever.
The child delights in the simple things of life. Sometimes that delight could lead in the wrong direction. But the delight in itself is good.
We need to embrace and nurture the delight while weaning it from those things unwholesome.
A child cannot learn something without running out and screaming it to others. And so it should be with all those who have knowledge.
When a child feels something is missing the child wants it, demands it with all the heart and soul — and demands it now.
We are all lacking, because the world is not the way it should be and none of us are in our proper place. We need to demand from the Owner Above that all this be repaired and be repaired now.
A child gives love for the sake of love. But even an adult can learn to do the same.
How will we preserve the innocence, the genius and the beauty of the child into adulthood?
First, we will nurture that beauty from its very beginning. We will surround the child with Torah and sing to it songs of wisdom even before it leaves the womb. We will make the child's room into a sanctuary with holy books, posters with thoughtful messages hanging on the walls and a charity box to be used daily.
And then, as the child emerges to discover that the world outside is not quite the same as that sanctuary, we will explain, "Yes, this is not the way it is supposed to be. But it is only temporary. You and I and all of us, we are going to change it. We are partners in the act of creating this world, because it is our mission to perfect it. And we are doing this now, with acts of beauty and kindness, one good deed at a time."
Dear Rabbi:
This is one of your most beautiful columns. While reading it, I could not help but think of Earth; how humankind treats Earth compared to the manner in which we treat children. The Earth is suffering as she she chokes from all the carbon gases. Instead, Earth must be treated as a child. Just as we feed children wholesome foods, so too must Earth be fed fresh oxygen. Just as the child learns to walk, so too must humankind start taking steps toward improving Earth. Additionally, as you point out, children benefit from Mitzvot. So too does the Earth, as each good deed related to conservation improves the world incrementally. In short, the Earth needs love and care from everyone. All Humans are supposed to be caretakers of Earth. We are all Earth's parents and she is our child.