Questions relating to children under the age of 13 (for boys) or 12 (for girls). Children of this age are minors with respect to various rules, including the obligation to fulfill mitzvos (God's commands).
2
votes
1answer
107 views
Godparents in Judaism
Does Judaism have any tradition resembling the Christian practice of assigning godparents? Godparents are a man and a woman entrusted by the birth parents to take care of their child spiritually and ...
3
votes
2answers
82 views
chinuch and tzitzis
At what age do boys need to be educated to wear tzitzis?
How careful do the parents need to be in ascertaining that they remain kosher at all times?
17
votes
4answers
332 views
How does one explain God to little kids?
As I understand it, the ability to understand abstract concepts develops gradually in kids and is certainly not all there when they first start having conversations. This comes into play when kids ...
5
votes
2answers
176 views
Start of the Upsherin ceremony
When did it become popular to have a ceremony for a boys Upsherin, his first haircut when he reaches the age of three?
8
votes
3answers
125 views
Proper age to take a child to Shul
What is the proper age for children to begin being taken to Shul?
4
votes
1answer
263 views
Is playing board games on Shabbat prohibited?
I have heard different opinions on playing games on Shabbat. Are games using money (ie Monopoly) mukza? What about games without money. (obviously games with writing necessary are muksa and need not ...
7
votes
2answers
155 views
Kid with Expensive Muktzeh Item in his Hand on Shabbos
If I have a little child with an Ipod (which is muktzeh) in its hand can I grab the hand and shake it out of its hand into a safe place to prevent the child from breaking it?
6
votes
1answer
53 views
Why can't a minor's rights to eat while harvesting crops be waived?
The Torah grants workers who are harvesting a field to consume some of it while on the job.
The Mishna in Bava Metzia (7:6) points out that a worker can waive his Biblically-granted rights, and make ...
5
votes
2answers
114 views
Is it permitted to have a boy under barmitzvah age sing Anim Zemiros?
Is it permitted to have a boy under barmitzvah age sing the Shir Hakavod (or Anim Zemiros)? Why is it not like any other part of davenning where we use someone over barmitzvah?
12
votes
3answers
228 views
Are parents responsible if their children damage in a store?
If a parent brings a child (defined as under 13 for a boy and under 12 for a girl) into a store, and that child damages an item, is the parent responsible to pay?
Would it matter if the child simply ...
11
votes
1answer
104 views
At what age should we start teaching the distinction between Midrash and Text?
At a very early age children learn the history of the world and the Jews through the enthralling stories found in many varied sources.
They learn that the world was created in six days; that ...
5
votes
4answers
177 views
Why does there seem to be different standards for future sinners?
In Bereshit (21:17) Rashi tells us that the Angels wanted G-d to kill Yishmael, but G-d said that He wouldn't judge him according to his future deeds, but rather according to his present state:
In ...
8
votes
1answer
517 views
Blowing bubbles on Shabbos
Is there any halachik problem with blowing bubbles on Shabbos? If so what melacha categories does it fall under? Does the age of the blower matter?
5
votes
1answer
56 views
Does a child tear Kriyah at the Kosel?
Does a kid under Bar/Bas Mitzva have to tear Kriya when they go to the Kosel?
5
votes
1answer
145 views
tying tzitzis together on Simchas Tora
When I was a child in the 1980s, something the boys in my synagogue did on Simchas Tora was tie one person's talis to another, or sometimes to furniture. (Now that I'm older and in a different ...
2
votes
1answer
58 views
maftir 7th day of Pesach
The Luach Kolel Chabad says a minor can't be maftir on the seventh day of Pesach. Why?
4
votes
2answers
176 views
arachin: dependance on age and sex
Why is the erech (Vayikra 27:1–8) of a woman less than that of a man? And why does erech depend on age? Sources, please.
7
votes
1answer
892 views
Puzzles on Shabbat
Is it permitted to put together puzzles on Shabbat with children?
Does it matter what kind of puzzle it is (jigsaw vs. fit the piece in the wooden hole)?
Does it matter if there are words on the ...
5
votes
1answer
104 views
Passing an infant across a table
Is there a minhag that one should not pass a child over a table to another person to hold? In my family we would pass a child from person to person all the way around the table, but nobody could ever ...
3
votes
1answer
251 views
Haircuts Erev Pesach
Are you allowed to take a Haircut The day of Erev Pesach after Burning the Chometz? Does it make a difference if your are a Male or female are small children Different?
6
votes
2answers
462 views
What size hex nut will properly fit a standard chanukah candle?
I have many a childhood memory of "helping" to make a chanukiyah out of a block of wood and eight hex nuts glued down to it (often with 2 more stacked in the center for shamash); each hex nut was ...
3
votes
2answers
153 views
Child and Lights on Shabbos
Can you put a Child who is not Yet old enough to understand (Lo Higyah Lichinuch) Shabbos in front of a Light switch in order that they turn it off or on and is there a difference between the two ...
8
votes
3answers
93 views
Mitzvot for ketanim?
Are there any mitzvot that kids under bar/bat mitzvah are obligated to keep? (not including for "educational purposes")
2
votes
1answer
36 views
When should a minor be the one lighting the Chanuka candles? [closed]
When should a minor L'Chatchila be the one lighting the Chanuka candles?
4
votes
1answer
42 views
Child Lighting Menorah in Shul
May a Child light the Menorah in Shul being that it is not the real lighting?
2
votes
1answer
86 views
First Barren Woman to Bear Children [closed]
Who was the first akarah (barren woman) in the Torah to bear children?
6
votes
1answer
311 views
Can too many decorations render a sukkah invalid?
I've seen some sukkahs (especially ones where they've had big "make sukkah decorations" kids' projects) where there are tons and tons and tons of decorations hanging down from the schach. At what ...
2
votes
1answer
89 views
Burial of Children
Why is it customary to bury children on the outskirts or in a separate section of the cemetery?
3
votes
2answers
108 views
