One of the greatest gifts we can pass on to our children and our grandchildren is the legacy of faith. In Judaism, this is known as l’dor v’dor, “from generation to generation,” and expresses how faith is passed down from one generation to the next through the holy observances and traditions that happen within the life of the family. In "Generation to Generation," author Yael Eckstein shares the lessons of faith instilled in her by her parents that helped her to persevere following the sudden death of her father, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, and gave her the hope and courage she needed to follow in his footsteps as President and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. "Generation to Generation" unlocks these holy observances and traditions and reveals the key values each one reinforces. These are the values that Yael Eckstein and her husband are now passing on to their four children, and that will allow you to pass on a strong and living faith to your children and grandchildren.

About Yael Eckstein

Yael Eckstein has the rare distinction of being a woman leading one of the world's largest religious charities as president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship).

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews was founded in 1983 by Orthodox Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, whose vision for building bridges of understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews has been translated into the largest Christian-supported humanitarian agency helping Jews in Israel and around the world. You can learn more about the organization and Rabbi Eckstein here.

For more than 2,000 years, the Jewish people have preserved and maintained their faith from generation to generation, despite being exiled from their land and suffering persecutions, pogroms, and even the Holocaust, where six million Jewish women, men, and children were killed at the hands of the Nazis. In her book, Generation to Generation, Fellowship President and CEO Yael Eckstein unlocks the keys to how the Jewish people have successfully passed on the legacy of faith through the family, and offers insights into how Christians can incorporate these principles within their own families to pass on a strong and living faith.

My Thoughts:

Reading this book I felt like I was reading the pages from my life. That is the beauty of the Shabbat and feast days that are done in my home weekly and throughout the year. Yael does a beautiful job explaining the Biblical Feast and Shabbat that are done by millions of Jews throughout many generations. How they are passed down from generation to generation. The feast days are a time of teaching our children about G-d with the richness of traditional observation. They learn by doing and that is one thing I love about all the yearly feast and Shabbat is that the children are completely involved.

The book starts out with the importance of “Teaching Our Children” Yael shares her life stories growing up in a Jewish home and doing the moadim “appointed times-feast day” that are prescribed throughout scripture. She goes on to share despite the persecution throughout history of the Jewish people and how have they kept their identity and survived against all odds. The answer is of course G-d but also passing down the faith from generation to generation. She goes on to tell one of my favorite heartfelt stories about a Rabbi Herzog going into a monastery looking for Jewish children. The nun was unsure which children were Jewish. The Rabbi knew just what to do once the children were gathered. He cried in a loud voice, “Shema Yisrael, HaShem Elokainu, Hashem echad.” That was something that was instilled by teaching them in the Jewish children since birth and the Jewish children were identified.

The chapter covers Shabbat, Passover, Shavuot, Tisha B’Av, High Holy Days, Sukkot, Purim, and then goes over Tzedakah. Each one has a lesson attached to it like forgiveness, faith, generosity, and so on. Each section starts out with a scripture verse and some commentary. She shares memories surrounding the days and then shows the moadim in the New Testament.

Each chapter ends with “Family Time-Teaching Our Children” It goes over things to do and discussions with your family based on the topic. For example the High Holy Days the theme is forgiveness and it list 3 things to do as a family like reading a scripture, writing down something, and so on. Below this there is more information for the parent and it is followed by Memory verses to focus on key values for your family.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it highly. You can purchase the book here.

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