Becoming aFather

BECOMING A FATHER

Dear God, I tremble as I approach to thank You for allowing me and my spouse to join You as partners in Creation, by granting us a child. Enable us to imitate Your mercy as we care for this child from its helpless beginning through self‑sufficiency, teaching it to pay that kindness forward to its own next generation. Grant us the strength of conviction to teach this child its role as a link in the unbroken chain of Jewish faith and sacrifice, stretching back to Abraham, and the responsibility to share and spread Your light and lessons throughout the world. Provide us with the resources to raise this child in a home guided by Your principles, powered by prayer, study, service, and acts of kindness.

— Harry Rothenberg, Passaic, New Jersey