Q:
Is having a fish tank in the home a good way to teach children the niflaos ha’Borei, the wonders of Hashem’s creations?
A:
An apple in the home is a good way. Put an apple on the table and teach your children to admire that apple. “Look how beautiful it is. It looks almost natural. Of course it’s nothing but a plastic, a Hashem-made plastic. But it’s so beautiful. And when you finish eating it, inside there’s a coupon, the seeds, that entitles you to another plant, another fruit. And the seeds are wonderful; it’s all miracles.” So certainly you can teach a child niflaos ha’Borei in the home.
You want a fish tank? Nothing wrong; but you don’t need it. Anytime you open an orange say, “My child, why is an orange so beautiful on the outside but when we open up the skin there’s no color on the inside of the skin? You know that’s a kasha that no scientists can answer? They’ll stand on their heads but they can’t answer that. Why is the orange’s skin so beautiful on the outside while on the underside of the skin there’s no color, no color at all? Nobody can answer that.
Because there’s only one answer. Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants you to see the color, to be seduced by it. Once you open it up, you see the color inside, the fruit, so you’ll eat it anyhow – you don’t color on the underside of the peel.
And so the purpose of color is chesed; it’s for kindliness. Not only He gives you something to eat. He gives it בחן בחסד וברחמים הוא נותן לחם לכל בשר. He makes the color to make you happy; and you don’t need color underneath. So color is not an accident. It’s niflaos ha’Borei.
And therefore certainly at home you can teach your children niflaos ha’Borei; but first teach yourself. Teach yourself first.
TAPE # E-2
