Consoling my 9 year old son, Yosef, after the England game was a very tricky parenting moment! I am sure many can relate…..

I’m sure many across the country feel a deep sense of disappointment,  failed dreams, and unmet aspirations….

One of the truly major challenges of parenting, and life in general, is managing expectations and dealing with disappointment. We all experience it at some stage, whether in our social, family and national life.

The Gemora teaches us that no human being leaves this world having even half of one’s hopes and desires completely fulfilled, we only have to look at the greatest of the great, Moshe Rabbeinu, whose disappointment not being allowed to enter the land of Israel must have been immense.

Disappointment, as we have, seen can lead to frustration and sadness on the one hand and anger, aggression and violence on the other hand.

Because of this bare fact of life, the great task in life is to teach those around us how to deal with disappointment and this is true again at every level of life – relationships, family, the work place, and our social and communal lives.

If there ever an appropriate time of year to relate to this sense of disappointment it is certainly the 9 days.

The nine days is the period in which we mourn the calamities and misfortune of the Jewish people and is the most intense part of the three weeks. It’s a time of grieving over the destruction of the first and second Temple, along with the associated tragedies.

The good news is, the world Cup final is scheduled for December 18th 2022, the first day of Chanukah! So maybe, just maybe England will get its Miracle then!