Who is a free man? How to raise an internally free child?

Classical articles on internal freedom, written by Simon Soloveychik. Open chapters from his book Parenting For Everyone.

On Conscience

By S.Soloveychik

The truth distributed in the world – is the foundation of human spirit, the statement about human dignity, the affirmation of the line between good and evil – it lives in people as conscience. Millions of people for thousands of years sought the truth and reached it, and so, gradually the common knowledge (science), the […]

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Why Can Someone Kill?

By S.Soloveychik

On New Year’s Eve the body of a seventeen year old girl was found on the stairs of a building. She was a first year college student. The killer gagged her, and stabbed the body seven times with a knife. The investigation described in a magazine led to an absolutely unpredictable result…

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Who Sow the Seeds of Evil?

By S.Soloveychik

Of course, we ourselves sow the seeds of evil, nobody else. Evil is born in the soul of a child more or less as a sickness is. A medical encyclopedia writes: there are two causes of sicknesses – breaks and defenses. When a grain of sand flies into an eye, an organism begins to fight […]

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Quick Fix Approach

By S.Soloveychik

Maybe some day people will create a world that doesn’t require fixing. Once things are made they would serve well. Once a man is grown up he would just live. The world would develop without even the idea of having to repair things, to correct mistakes, or to re-educate children.

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Teen Age Test

By S.Soloveychik

There is another time to be patient, and that is when children are teenagers. The trouble with this age is in fact that it is difficult not only for adults but also for the adolescents as well. Childhood can be compared to good health. Adolescence is like an illness. Teenagers are not well physically because […]

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On Suspicion

By S.Soloveychik

Suspicion is especially dreadful for our children’s souls. I promised not to teach and not to appeal for anything, but this is a case where I am ready to shout: Don’t dare! Don’t dare to suspect your child of bad deeds! Don’t, even if you have grounds for suspicion. An active first grade student took […]

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I Hate You

By S.Soloveychik

Our Matvey is a kindergarten boy, and he is an honest one. On a question about favorite foods he answers, “Cutlets, juice, potato, and macaroni.” Today we have macaroni for breakfast. There is only he and I. He reluctantly pokes at his food and makes a mess around the plate. In kindergarten he would get […]

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Parenting Faith

By S.Soloveychik

Furthermore, the first thing that this science of upbringing at home must do is to admit the fact that people raised and still raise good children without knowing about this science. That is right. Who has ever seen children brought up by science? No one. It is because children are raised not by a science […]

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On Happiness

By S.Soloveychik

It happens that parents take diligent care of their children, and try to play the role of providers of happy-destinies. They arrange for a better school, a better college; everything for the sake of their kids. Children seem to have everything except happiness. They are lucky but not happy. Why is it so? Usually people […]

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On Upbringing

By S.Soloveychik

The difficulty of a book for parents is not in the theme. The difficulty is in the fact that readers have to be told about something highly unpleasant and touchy. We all like it when someone teaches us something, but we don’t like it when we are taught how to live…

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