Swimming and the Talmud...

According to the Talmud, A Jewish  parent is required to teach his/her child three things (Kiddushin 29a).

1. The first is Torah (that is, the rules of the world as we understand them and wrong from right).
2. The second is to prepare them for some way to make a living so that they can support themselves and their families.
3. The third is to teach them how to swim.

There seems to be consensus about the value of #1 and #2, but some people were curious why, in relatively landlocked E. Europe, #3 was a priority.

In the pool, during Calanit's swimming lesson today, I came up with a possible answer.

Teaching a child to swim is a metaphor for teaching that child to be an independent being.

You can't totally let go at the beginning, but you can't hold onto her forever.

At each step of the process, you need to watch, but gradually allow the child to do more and more on her own. Yet, you need to stand by until you are sure she can do it for herself.

You need to push her to try something, encourage her to challenge her fears, but arm her with the common sense to not be foolhardy.

You won't be there forever, so you do a disservice by holding her the hold time, but you can't just abdicate your responsibility, toss her in, and hope for the best.