Question of the Month:  Answering Your Child's Questions About God:

I hope that you might be my husband and I with a small problem. Ben just began kindergarten, both at public school and at Shomrei Torah, and he has asked us "What is God?" Usually we are able to field very tough questions from Ben, but for some reason this one has us stuck. This is a hard question for adults, let alone a five year old. My intellectual understanding and experience is simply not up to providing him with an answer he can understand. I was hoping you might have some suggestions, both as a Rabbi and as a parent, on how we might explain this to him so that he has a better understanding. I appreciate your thoughts, and your help.

Answer:

I think that it is important to answer children's questions about God when they ask them, rather than put them off. We want it to be a topic that they are comfortable discuss with us. There are no right answers, it's about being honest and sharing our own beliefs with our children. There is nothing wrong with their learning that we don't have all the answers and that this is a topic that adults wrestle with too.

There are some nice Jewish books for children on God - you can find a selection at www.judaism.com (go to books, then children). A publisher that has an extensive list is www.JewishLights.com (again click on children's books).