Response to " Adults who do not Speak to a Parent"

Mr. Prager's religious commentaries are becoming more off-base and irrelevant with every issue.

For example, he writes:

"I became aware of something that, as a parent, I view as a nightmare: children who voluntary disappear from a parent's life."

The phrase turns on two realities: his perception and his alarm, both of which are unfounded.

I believe that the Torah teaches:

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Genesis 2:24)

It is normal and understandable for children to reach a point in their lives when they leave home. If they want to be gone once and for all, that is their choice.

When the Lord commanded through Moses "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee," (Ex. 20:12), the understanding is that we would recognize that we did not make ourselves. We are not obligated, however, to undo our lives to incorporate abusive or distant parents. Sometimes, the best way to honor one's parents is to stay away.

Moreover, parents have to be more than parents. Their lives simply cannot revolve around their kids (or grandkids), who will (and should) grow up and move on with their lives.

Besides, the alarming number of adult children who still live at home and depend on Mommy and Daddy--that is the greater nightmare.