Spare the Child - Essentials of Torah Chinuch

I loved it. Think every parent and educator should have it close to their heart.

I just finished this. It took real effort. It was my summer goal. I can’t tell you how many times I cried. It’s truly worth it even if it didn’t change my chinuch but it helped me understand my own upbringing and peeled back the layers for me of how my upbringing affected me for good and for bad. I’m not a 180 changed person and it didn’t transform my life reading it. That would take hard work over time.There are a few times the book feels long, but with my goal, I pushed through and it continued to impress me until the very last page.One amazing thing it did for me is that it taught me that there actually are true experts out there and that there IS a rhyme and reason to raising my kids. Everything DOES make sense, for good and for bad. It’s not like just casting seeds to the wind and praying and trying your best. The book opened up my eyes to see clear connections and correlations in the home and out of it.The book is so well written it speaks to any range of orthodoxy.There are concepts here that are so earth shattering, fundamental, and yes - frightening

As my children were getting to the toddler age, I started looking around for something to guide me in my parenting. Yes, I speak to my mentors, but I needed something that could give me a comprehensive outlook on raising children properly that I can reference. I read a few NY Times bestselling books, but I was never comfortable with any of them. Some things didn't seem right and I was never sure if a specific piece of advice or outlook was aligned with proper Torah principles.I knew about R' Wolbe's short essay on Chinuch: "Planting & Building in Education: Raising a Jewish Child" (available on Amazon as well) and I went to the store to buy it. Fortunately for me, this book by Rav Yechiel Yaakovson (beautifully translated by R' Binyamin Jacobson of Ramat Beit Shemesh, yes, he's related!) was right next to R' Wolbe's book and I made the wise decision to purchase it.I read it cover to cover in about a week. Not only is it a riveting read with captivating anecdotes, every single thing written in this book is extremely logical and sat well with me. On top of that, coming from a renowned mechanech who was close to R' Shach, as well as having an extremely impressive approbation from R' Wolbe himself (whose aforementioned work is quoted from a number of times) gave me the peace of mind throughout that everything was coming from a proper hashkafa.R' Wolbe writes in his approbation: "Please, print this booklet in hundreds of thousands of copies, because every home needs it." Not that my opinion matters in the face of R' Wolbe's, but I couldn't agree more.

I have read many books on parenting, and taken many parenting and education classes, both secular and Torah based. I am an educator by profession and discerning by nature. I was hoping to reinforce familiar ideas and maybe learn a few new things from this book.This book totally blew me away. Its premises are so logical, clear, and empowering. Every point is thoroughly explained and hashkafically solid. The ideas gave me clarity on many topics that I've previously approached with mixed messages, (authority, prizes, positive and negative reinforcement, among others) and refocused my parenting and relationships with my children. I feel more confident and effective in my parenting efforts. I highly recommend it to every parent and educator!

While a giant in the world of Chinuch like Rabbi Yechiel Yaakovson doesn't need my haskama, I feel compelled to write something in review of this outstanding book. It is crisp and clear, with attention given to every detail, and is one of these rare books that you need to read with utmost care, hanging on to every word. The closest analogy I can think of is that this book is to Torah Chinuch as what Steven Covey's 7 Habits is to personal effectiveness. As if I haven't made it obvious already, I am a huge fan of both books, albeit one is koidesh and one is chol.

The cleverness of this work is mindblowing. The clarity, logic, simplicity, proper order, the captivating stories and sense of authenticity, all characterize this phenomenal work. I have met many people who read the book, and all were enamored by it.