Discuss honoring elders; introduce the ‘ethical will’ — values we leave behind.
Children wonder and discover; you facilitate more than you lecture.
- What does Jewish tradition say about aging?
- Why is it a mitzvah to honor the elderly?
- How can we prepare for future generations?
Judaism commands honoring elders (‘rise before the aged’). An ethical will passes on values, not possessions — a beautiful way to think about legacy.
- Z’kenim — elders
- Kibud — honor
- Tzava’ah — ethical will
- “Why honor old people specifically?”
- They carry wisdom and memory; honoring them keeps our community whole.
- Children understand Jewish traditions about growing old.
- Children find ways to honor elders and explore the idea of an ethical will.
Connect to elders in each child’s life; this pairs with the grade’s intergenerational elder project.
Folktale. The Wooden Bowl (Folktale) — a child’s gentle lesson teaches a family to honor a grandparent.
Changemaker. Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi — spent his last decades arguing that growing old is not a decline but a job, and teaching people how to do it.
What do we owe our elders — and what do they give us?
“We explored honoring elders and ethical wills. Try at home: ask an older relative about a value they want to pass on.”