Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education

Educational Resources

Bibliographies

Resources for Jewish Parents:
Raising Your Child to Be a Mensch
A Selected Bibliography

Abramowitz, Yosef I. & Susan Silverman. Jewish Family Life: Traditions, Holidays, and Values for Today's Parents and Children. Golden Books, 1997.

A user-friendly parent's guide which discusses various aspects of Jewish life and culture in order to help parents make Judaism relevant in their lives. The section on values emphasizes Jewish values in deeds of loving-kindness and acts of justice, respecting the human body, earth and nature and relationships to money and sexuality. First person narratives illustrate the values that are described.

Abramowitz, Yosef I., Editor. Beyond Scandal: The Parents' Guide to Sex, Lies, and Leadership. Jewish Family Life Books, 1998.

Taking a positive approach to examining the recent troubles of President Clinton, this book encourages parents and educators to teach their children and students moral lessons. Short essays from educators, rabbis and psychologists, along with practical tips on how to put today's headlines into a Jewish values context, are included.

Adahan, Miriam. Raising Children to Care: A Jewish Guide to Childrearing. Feldheim Publishers, Ltd., 1988.

The goal of this text is to help train parents and their children to become loving, self-disciplined and responsible. Using sources from the Bible and Talmud, the author weaves Jewish ethical teachings into the text as a guide for ethical behavior in modern family life.

Artson, Bradley Shavit. It's a Mitzvah: Step-by-Step to Jewish Living. Behrman House, Inc., 1995.

Jewish rituals and values come alive in this engaging guide to Jewish practice. Each of the eighteen chapters represents a mitzvah, explains its significance and then lists concrete ways of putting the mitzvah into practice. The accompanying leader's guide includes family activity pages.

Blitz, Shmuel. Bedtime Stories of Jewish Values. Mesorah Publications, 1998.

This book has a number of short stories, each with a moral taken from Jewish virtues. There are several here that apply: honesty, loyalty, judging others and forgiveness.

Boteach, Shmuley. Parenting with Fire. NAL Trade, 2006.

According to the author, transmitting passions, motivating children with shared goals, and getting them excited about values are the most important things any parent can do. With humor and insight, he shows parents how create a parent-child bond based on vitality, exuberance, and mutual respect.

-----. Shalom in the Home: Smart Advice for a Peaceful Life. Meredith Books, 2007.

Rabbi Shmuley illustrates how families can strengthen their bonds with unforgettable stories of families in crisis who undergo intensive counseling to improve their relationships and bring peace, or “shalom,” to their homes.

-----. 10 Conversations You Need to Have with Your Children. William Morrow, 2006.

This compelling book walks you through the critical conversations, including: cherishing childhood; developing intellectual curiosity; knowing who you are and what you want to become; learning to forgive; realizing the importance of family and tradition; and being fearless and courageous.

Donin, Hayim Halevy. To Raise a Jewish Child: A Guide for Parents. Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1966.

A classic text for dealing with Jewish parenting issues from a modem Orthodox perspective. Includes a chapter entitled The Basic Values of Judaism: What Kind of People Do We Want Our Children to Be?, with sections entitled To Love and Revere God, To Love Our Neighbor, To Respect Human Dignity, etc.

Epstein, David & Suzanne Stutman. Torah with Love: A Guide for Strengthening Jewish Values Within the Family. Prentice-Hall Press, 1986.

An exciting and practical guide to family Torah study with emphasis on using the Torah text for teaching Jewish values. It includes suggestions for discussions at the family table, teaching and drama techniques and insights into analyzing the Biblical text. Useful for both the beginner and experienced parent teacher. A teaching, not preaching, approach to parenting is presented.

Gellman, Marc. "Always Wear Clean Underwear!" and Other Ways Parents Say "I Love You." Morrow Junior Books, 1997.

Parents are their children's primary role models and guides in life. In this book, the big and little meanings of the universal do's and dont's parents tell their children are presented with humor and great insight.

Grishaver, Joel Lurle. 10 Things Which Tend to Turn Kids into Mensches. Torah Aura Productions, 1995.

A short pamphlet which includes a practical how-to model to help one live a life guided by Jewish values as expressed by the midot tovot (good qualities) of the Musar (Ethics) Movement. A list of the midot tovot is provided.

Jacobs, Meredith L. The Modern Jewish Mom's Guide to Shabbat: Connect and Celebrate - Bring Your Family Together with the Friday Night Meal. Harper, 2007.

Bringing the family together every Friday night for the Shabbat meal has helped many families connect with each other, even as children grow into their teens and beyond. Written in conversational style, this book is filled with recipes and family art projects, summaries of the weekly Torah portion and suggested family discussion topics.

Kurshan, Neil. Raising Your Child to be a Mensch. Atheneum, 1987.

How to raise children to practice decency, generosity, kindness and integrity in an age of the success ethic. As a parent, the author shares his perspective about the priorities in Jewish family life.

Lickona, Thomas. Educating for Character: How Our Schools Can Teach Respect and Responsibility. Bantam, 1992.

The author's twelve-point program offers practical suggestions and strategies designed to teach children respect, responsibility, hard work, compassion and other values needed in today's society.

Payne, Lauren Murphy. We Can Get Along: A Child's Book of Choices. Free Spirit Publishing, Inc., 1997.

Focusing on how children have the power to make choices, this book guides young people in their relationships with friends. It stresses kindness, respect, tolerance and responsibility.

Reuben, Steven Carr. Raising Jewish Children in a Contemporary World: The Modern Parent's Guide to Creating a Jewish Home. Prima Publishing, 1992.

Written by a Reconstructionist rabbi, this is a guide for modem families who wish to raise their children with a positive Jewish self-image. It includes a chapter, How to Raise Ethical Jewish Children, which stresses these three basic Jewish ideas: 1. What Judaism really means by holy, 2. Charity versus tzedakah (righteousness) and 3. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Rosenberg, Shelley Kapnek. Raising a Mensch: How to Bring Up Ethical Children in Today's World. The Jewish Publication Society, 2003.

A useful book for parents, imparting knowledge of middot and mitzvot in practical situations and through traditional tales.

Siegel, Danny. Good People. The Town House Press, 1995.

A book of stories about ordinary people who are performing exceptionally compassionate deeds. In doing so, they not only repair the world and bring it closer to perfection, but also provide readers with accessible, modern role models.

Zion, Naom Sachs and Shawn Fields-Meyer. A Day Apart - Shabbat at Home: A Step-by-Step Guidebook with Blessings and Songs, Rituals and Reflections. Shalom Hartman Institute, 2004.

A step-by-step guidebook to the Jewish Sabbath, with blessings and songs, rituals and reflections, stories and lots of art. Full color; designed to work both for beginners and for already-knwledgeable Jews who want to deepen their understanding of Shabbat practices.