Pablo Casals was most well-known for his talent as a musician, but he was also a great writer. This reading on teaching our children is especially meaningful for parents. One of the gifts of the High Holidays is the opportunity to see ourselves with fresh eyes. This beautiful reflection reminds us that every person is unique, every moment is new, and every one of us has the capacity to make the world better than we found it.
Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that never was before and will never be again – and what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two is four, and that Paris is the capital of France.
When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to them, “Do you know what you are? You are a marvel! You are unique. In all of the world there is no other child like you. And look at your body…
what a wonder it is. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is like you, a marvel? You must cherish one another. You must work – we all must work to make this world worthy of its children.”
-Pablo Casals