How Free Babysitting Changed My Jewish Life

I did not grow up in a religious family. I never even stepped into a synagogue until I was about eight years old. My only connection to Judaism was traveling to the Bronx two or three times a year for some sort of holiday meal with my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. There were no religious aspects to these dinners – not even for Passover.

Growing up I knew I was Jewish but had no idea what that meant, nor did I care. I had my obligatory Bar Mitzvah and moved on with my life.

Jump twenty-three years forward, and I am a new dad with a screaming six-month-old at home. One night, my wife and I wanted to get out of the house. Someone had told us that some rabbi was on a speaking tour and would be at the local Jewish Community Center just down the street from our house. Normally, we would have simply ignored it, but the advertisement contained the two words that every new parent wants to hear. FREE BABYSITTING. That was enough for us.

The speaker was someone very well-known – Rabbi David Wolpe. I had never heard of the guy, but as he spoke, I started to realize that my personal value system was very similar to that of Judaism. I bought his book. Then another. And yet another. It was all very fascinating, especially the idea of not working on the Sabbath.

My dad lived up the street and every Saturday he would ask me to come over to help with one project or another. That got me thinking. If I honored the Sabbath, I wouldn’t have to spend my Saturdays pulling weeds for him. I hatched a plan to start attending Friday night services at a local synagogue. That way, I could tell my dad that I couldn’t help him because it was Shabbos, and he would be forced to accept it.

I can remember the first time I used that excuse. He stood completely dumbfounded on the driveway his jaw wide open in complete disbelief. He tried to argue, but I reminded him that I was attending services every Friday night. There was nothing he could say, and he finally gave up. I had won.

My wife and I were Friday night regulars – after all, the synagogue offered free babysitting too. It wasn’t too long before I started to enjoy services. We began meeting people and developed some very close friendships. The next thing I knew, I was serving on committees and soon found myself on the Board of Trustees. I was in the center of synagogue life and loved it.

Over these many years, I have learned what it means to be Jewish. I have developed a Jewish identity. Heck, I’ve even studied a bit of Talmud and enjoyed it.

So, keep an eye out for free babysitting. It could change your life – it did mine.