Torah Live prepared this program for a parent-child learning event in Rabbi Zev & Rebbeca Gubbay's shul in London.

Goal: Get children excited about the mitzvah of honoring parents.

Structure:

Welcome everyone and share the goal of the event.

Here are two options. One is a reading and discussion. The other is more interactive. The reading works well for older kids.

The story of Dama ben Netina

It happened once that one of the precious stones fell out of the High Priest's breastplate, and was lost. Seeking a replacement, the sages were referred to a certain Dama ben Netina who purportedly had the exact jewel they required in his possession. They offered him one hundred dinar, and Dama accepted their offer. When he went to fetch the jewel he discovered that he could not access it without waking his father. So he returned and informed his clients that he could not provide them with the item they sought. Assuming that he was trying to renegotiate the price, they increased their offer until they reached a sum of 1000 dinar. When his father finally woke up he brought them the jewel, and they were still willing to pay him their final offer of 1000 dinar. Dama, however, was only willing to accept their initial offer of one hundred, saying: "What? Do you think that I would sell the honor of my fathers for mere coins? I refuse to derive any tangible benefit from the honor of my fathers!" The Jerusalem Talmud goes on to ask what heavenly reward Dama received for such meritorious behavior. The answer given was that on that very night a pure red heifer, essential for attaining ritual purity, was born to Dama's cow, and so the Jews purchased this extremely rare item from him for a small fortune.

Questions for parent-child discussion:

The candy test

Each parent-child team gets 8 candies and a bag or small box with 8 questions.

The parent sits opposite the child and places the candies in the middle. The child picks a question from the bag. Whoever the answer applies to takes a candy from the pile.

The 8 questions:

Parents get all the candies! 🙂

Follow up with a parent-child discussion. The event facilitator picks the topic.

Event facilitator to kids: You've all read 8 questions about amazing things your parents have done for you. But I have a 9th question: What is the greatest gift that your parents have given you?

Encourage the kids to answer. The goal is to get them to say what the Sefer Hachinuch says.

This is also a great time to ask more questions and get the kids involved.

Now that we've learned a little about the mitzvah of honoring parents, it's video time! This short video is all about the mitzvah of honoring parents!

Torah Live's “Honoring Parents”

Hand out the “Rabbi Siddur” honoring parents chart:

Parent and child discuss which 4 actions for honoring parents the child will choose for the coming week.

Encourage creativity. For example, if the child says they'll take out the garbage, they should make a dramatic video about it and submit it for review before the next event. The most creative ideas win prizes! Kids love seeing each other's creative projects on the mitzvah of honoring parents.

At the end of the event, hand out certificates to the kids. They're now officially certified in honoring parents! 🙂