I've always thought about writing a weekly piece to discuss exactly what it is I don't like about the new Etz Chaim tanach that my Conservative shul uses. I finally have a few minutes, so here I go:

In a comment on this week's parsha of Ki Tissa, this is the comment in the P'shat section related to Exodus 30:14 -

14: from the age of twenty years up Judaism has always believed that religion, first and foremost, is not for children, although there is much in it that children can join in and appreciate. Primarily, it is for adults who alone can begin to appreciate its breadth and profundity. Children who see their parents taking Jewish obligation seriously are more likely to see it as something they will want to do as adults.

There are so many things that I feel is wrong with these statements that I don't know where to start. First of all, since the phrase here deals with 20 year olds and the commentary relates to children, one can assume that anyone under 20 is considered a child by the author. The last time I checked, a "child" of 13 is considered a full fledged member of the community with all the religious obligations that are implied. Children are not instructed in the religion beginning at 13 but for years before in preparation. Religion is not for children?

As for the last comment, if a child is taken by their parents to daven for three hours on a Shabbat morning while their friends are out playing in Little League, the child ain't gonna go for the davening when they grow up unless they are taught and can understand the religious significance in davening and that it's not something that Mommy and Daddy do to be boring or to punish the child. In fact I would argue that psychologically, the more "seriously" that a parent is into anything, be it religion or stamp collecting, the less likely a child will grow to embrace that passion, especially without a foundation of learning about it.

I did a quick search on the internet and nowhere could I find any commentary on "Judaism" (whatever that is) not believing that religion is for children. If it really weren't, would there be a torahtots.com?

Maybe there's some esoteric meaning here that I'm missing, but the whole purpose of Etz Chaim was to demystify and facilitate our understanding of Judaism for the 21st century.