To Kindle a Soul: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Parents and Teachers [Hardcover]

Lawrence Kelemen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

Increasingly, forward-looking scientists and psychologists researching issues of childrearing are finding themselves looking...backwards! After years of failed experiments in education, it is the Torah's eternal wisdom that is proving itself the most effective, most humane, and most sensible way of teaching our children. In this fascinating, extensively-researched, and beautifully written work, Rabbi Kelemen, best-selling author, world-renowned lecturer, and acclaimed teacher, sets out a wonderfully practical Torah-based model for raising ethical, moral, and well-adjusted children, backing up his insights with over 400 scientific studies. This book is must reading for kiruv professionals and for parents, both observant and non-observant alike.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Practical. Sobering. Invaluable." -- Senator Joe Lieberman

"This book is a welcome oasis in a vast desert." -- Dr. Laura Schlesinger

"To Kindle a Soul is quite simply a triumph. This book is a service to humanity." -- Dennis Prager

About the Author

Lawrence Kelemen is a renowned international lecturer and a professor of education and philosophy at Neve Yerushalayim College in Jerusalem, Israel, where he lives. Kelemen studied at U.C.L.A. and Harvard.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 255 pages
• Publisher: Targum; 1st edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881927199
• ISBN-13: 978-1881927198
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #836,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably R. Kelemen's best book to date, September 24, 2001

By 

John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Kindle a Soul: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Parents and Teachers (Hardcover)

Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen is also the author of two highly recommended books in defense of the historical Jewish faith: _Permission to Believe_ and _Permission to Receive_. But this extraordinary book may be his best to date.

In this thoroughly researched and very sensitively written volume, R. Kelemen is concerned to bring out the pedagogical insights that have long informed Jewish tradition -- which has survived for some three thousand years, so its insights on childrearing must be worth _something_, right?

The tone and approach are both well captured by the image on the cover; R. Kelemen writes with exquisite gentleness and is concerned above all with parenting by example. And in good traditional fashion (very much in accordance with the teachings of the Musar movement), he insists that there is no easy "technique" for learning to become a better parent; the thing to do is to work on becoming a better _person_.

So without presuming to present an exhaustive treatise, he takes the reader on a guided tour/overview of the traditional Jewish approach to parenthood: don't yell or spank, set an example. And -- as such a subject requires -- R. Kelemen makes his case with about twenty parts compassion for each part of stern correction.

But that stern correction is there, and this full-of-heart book also has a backbone of steel. In his closing chapter, for example, he takes on a topic that might at first glance seem out of place in a book on a three-thousand-year religious tradition: the hazards of television.

It's actually not out of place at all; as R. Kelemen reminds us, a group of very traditional Jewish scholars reported on these hazards some thirty years ago, and they are (or should be) of direct concern to parents everywhere. The entire approach is very much in the spirit of traditional strictures to watch what one allows into one's home and make sure it's spiritually uplifting.

TV, R. Kelemen argues, doesn't qualify -- and he cites the research to prove it. Even such apparently educational mainstays as "Sesame Street" have a grave downside, for example in their effects on attention span. Today, when kids are given Ritalin almost as readily as cold medicine, R. Kelemen deserves a close listen.

Some parents may disagree with some of R. Kelemen's conclusions. For that matter, I myself _might_ be willing to acknowledge that his case against TV looks too much at one side and not enough at the other. But on the other hand, it's surely important that the case be made as strongly as possible -- and I don't know of anywhere else it's made at all, let alone as thoroughly as it is here.

If you're a parent, get this book at once. There's plenty of excellent advice here, and it doesn't just apply to Jewish households.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fun read, excellent advice, October 17, 2001

By 

Darren (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Kindle a Soul: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Parents and Teachers (Hardcover)

Kelemen has written a wonderful guidebook for parents who want their kids to grow up physically and emotionally healthy, normal and happy. While he quotes hundreds of recent studies (footnotes section is lengthy), the book is easy to read, even a little bit at a time. The traditional Jewish angle on parenting is helpful (Jews have always been admired for the way they bring up their kids and teach their students), but the main thing is the good practical advice that comes out from the ancient principles.

Definitely worth it

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Parent's Dream, February 16, 2003

By 

Howard Schwartz (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Kindle a Soul: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Parents and Teachers (Hardcover)

This is an excellent text for someone looking for a single volume on the basics of parenting. He provides answers to all the hard questions, from bedtime to tantrums, etc. He also provides a simple system for understanding how to move our children from where they are behaviorally and cognitively to where they need to be. He cites a tremendous among of data verifying the effectiveness of his approach, although it is obvious to anyone with commonsense that his approach will work. I have been using his system for a few weeks, and so far I am VERY satisfied with the results. I have read other parenting books, but nothing has actually worked as well as this.