This is a book recommended by a friend whom we met at the international book exhibition. To be honest, I had no interest in this book at the beginning, but after skipping a few chapters and skimming through a few later pages, the Jewish philosophy in family and education started catching my attention.
Key Takeaways I Have:
- No Fear of Failure: Experiencing failure is part of Jewish culture. Jewish capital ventures even design a process to allow startups to fail in business for several rounds.
- Education & Family
- TV is not part of daily life, and conversation in the family is. This is also common in some European nations, in my observation.
- In family table talk, parents ask children what kinds of questions they ask in school rather than asking how they live in school today. This is the philosophy of learning by asking questions.
- They keep one day for thinking and connecting to God. It is like Sunday service but starts from Friday night to Saturday night instead for the Jewish community. The habit of thinking guides us to think out of the box along with imagination.
- Two sets of books define the core values of the Jewish community:
- Torah: it is part of the Old Testament in the Bible. (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
- Talmud: it is the record of ancient conversations.
Actions I Take After Reading This Book
Normally, I eat meals while watching YouTube videos or other streaming programs. It is relaxing but is a bit shallow, especially when I find it hard to decide which video to watch. What this book teaches is to turn this moment into a family conversation time. It could be a bit difficult to change this habit, so I decide to start this for a few days a week.
