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Chinuch: Difference between revisions
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There is a rabbinical obligation on every father to educate his children to fulfill mitzvot even before they reach the age of [[Bar Mitzvah]]/Bat Mitzvah.<ref>Sefer Chinuch Yisrael (p. 59) writes that Chinuch is a rabbinical Mitzvah, and quotes the Chaye Adam (66:1) who writes that this is a Mitzvah Midivrei Kabbalah (institution of the Nevi'im). </ref> The age at which this obligation begins varies according to the Mitzvah. Below are the details of this Mitzvah. | There is a rabbinical obligation on every father to educate his children to fulfill mitzvot even before they reach the age of [[Bar Mitzvah]]/Bat Mitzvah.<ref>Sefer Chinuch Yisrael (p. 59) writes that Chinuch is a rabbinical Mitzvah, and quotes the Chaye Adam (66:1) who writes that this is a Mitzvah Midivrei Kabbalah (institution of the Nevi'im). </ref> The age at which this obligation begins varies according to the Mitzvah. Below are the details of this Mitzvah. | ||
== D’oOayta or D’Rabanan? == | |||
* The Mitzvah of Chinuch - to teach Torah to our children - is clearly a Mitzvah D’Orayta as explicitly stated: V’shinantam L’vanecha.<ref>Devarim 6 pasuk 7</ref> However, is the Mitzvah of chinuch - to instruct children to begin performing Mitzvot before they are of the age of Mitzvot - a D’Orayata or D’Rabanan? | |||
# Rav Schneur Zalman of Liadi says that it is clearly a mitzvah D’rabanan because it is never mentioned in the 5 books of the Torah. <ref> R’ Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Shulchun Aruch Harav Y.D. 246:1</ref> | |||
# However Rav Meir Simchah of Dvinsk, disagrees citing Bereshit “For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him”<ref>Bereshit Perek 18 pasuk 19 </ref> | |||
which he interprets to mean that Avraham is commanded to teach his household and children to perform the Mitzvot.This, however, is a general Mitzvah to teach children to appreciate Mitzvot. The Mitzvah to teach a child to perform every individual Mitzvah is D’Rabanan.<ref> Meshakh Ḥochmah Genesis 18:19 </ref> | |||
# According to Rav Soloveitchik, although teaching children the Mitzvot is D’Rabanan, the Mitzvah of Chinuch is modeled after the biblical commandment of Sippur Yitziat Mitzrayim. This commandment to retell the story of our ancestors is extended, and, while there is a special commandment to tell over the story of Egypt, we must retell all of the Torah and Mitzvot to our children using all of the educational methods we follow in Sippur Yitziat Mitzrayim. <ref> Benjamin Zimmerman, The Educational Experience of Sippur Yitziat Mizrayim </ref> | |||
== At What Age? == | == At What Age? == | ||
# The general age of when one starts to do mitzvos is when the parents think that their child is mature enough to fulfill the whole mitzvah even with its more complicated parts. <ref>See the examples on Sukkah 42a and Sukkah 28a</ref> | # The general age of when one starts to do mitzvos is when the parents think that their child is mature enough to fulfill the whole mitzvah even with its more complicated parts. <ref>See the examples on Sukkah 42a and Sukkah 28a</ref> | ||
