Yisro - Seven Daughters or Seven Fathers?
Rebbetzin Henny Machlis shared a beautiful insight into Parshas Yisro which is recorded in the book “Emunah with Love and Chicken Soup” about her life. We know that Moshe's father-in-law, Yisro, had seven names and we also know he had seven daughters. Fascinatingly, the seven names parallel his seven daughters and teach us that each child brings out a different aspect of their parent. Each child stretches their parent in different ways and challenges him to become a better person in unique ways for each child. We all have to grow and adapt to be a different mother for each of our children, in addition to the changes we make as each one grows and moves into new stages. Sometimes mothers feel badly that we can’t do with our younger ones what we were able to do with our older ones when they were little. Or maybe we feel badly that our older children had parents who were clueless novices while our younger kids benefit from our hard-earned experience. The lesson for us from Yisro’s seven names is that we are supposed to be different for each child and at each stage. It isn’t our goal to try to be the same for all children. We rejoice at our growth and embrace our changes as we parent each child individually. Even if it feels we are giving less to some than we gave to others, we can trust that Hashem is giving each child the mother that is best for him or her at all times.
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