No Vacation from Education
A woman came to me in tears, “Honored Rav, every evening, my two daughters consort with gentile men. I cannot remain silent in the face of it anymore.”
Whenever I hear a case of assimilation or intermarriage, my heart constricts with pain. The agony slices my soul as though it were the first time I ever heard of such a calamity.
Now, too, my heart was filled with sorrow over two Jewish daughters who sought happiness in foreign pastures. I asked the woman, “During the summer vacation, where does your family go?”
“I am a religious woman and educate my family to have faith in Hashem.”
“You did not answer my question. Where do you spend your summer Shabbatot and vacation time?”
“We rent a cottage by the sea in Nice and relax there.”
I immediately understood the source of corruption. With every wave, this seaside resort pulled her daughters away from their heritage. The very fact that her daughters went to the beach on Shabbat, especially the one in Nice, was enough to wash all vestiges of Judaism off their neshamot.
Pure Jewish education must not be confined to the house. Yirat Shamayim, good middot, and guarding against all forms of sin must be taught at all times, even during vacation. That is when worldly pleasures reach their peak. As a person floats peacefully on the calm seas, the Yetzer Hara is hard at work, casting a spiritual slumber upon him.
