“The world exists only because of the breath of children. ”

-Resh Lakish (Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 119b)

The rabbis and scholars of the Talmud held children in extremely high regard, referring to them as “anointed ones” using the root word “mashiach”; from which we get the English word Messiah. They held that without a child’s untainted breath, learning and reciting sacred texts, the world could not exist.

In biology of course, this is totally true- without the breath of the next generation, life would die out. Species without children go extinct. And our modern term “sustainability” is meaningless without a next generation to inherit and inhabit the world.

Children literally are the future. That’s why most species and natural systems protect the young- to ensure that future. So not just on the spiritual plane, but the physical realm as well, the breath of children sustains it all.

Who are the children in your life today, and how can you support them in their future?

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Simeon ben Lakish, better known by his nickname Resh Lakish, was a scholar who lived in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina in the third century CE. He was reputedly born in Bosra, east of the Jordan River, in around 200 CE, but lived most of his life in Sepphoris. Nothing is known of his ancestry except his father’s name. He is something of an anomaly among the giants of Torah study as he was supposed to have been, in his early youth, a bandit and gladiator. He was regarded as one of the most prominent scholars of the his generation.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive, consultant, and a lowly rabbinic student. He can be reached at joe.laur@godsdog.net.