Hot answers tagged children-parenting
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When teaching Kodesh at Yeshivas Toras Emes (High School) in Johannesburg almost 30 years ago, the Menahel HaRav Gedalia Sternstein שליט"א told me that the Rov - Rabbi Salzer זצ"ל - told him that it's best if the students learn about these things from the Gemora - BiKedusha uVeTaharo.
As relevant topics came up, we were to explain them is as much detail as ...
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The Rambam writes that it is considered cruel to repeatedly refuse to forgive someone who asks sincerely for forgiveness. Under normal circumstances if they ask once, twice and then a third time you must forgive them, or else you become the one in the wrong. They however do need to appease the wronged party and make amends as far as possible, such as ...
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That reminds me of the anecdote from Rabbi Emanuel Feldman's book, Tales Out of Shul. A woman once told him, "Rabbi, I'm really not enjoying this week of mourning."
Not everything in life (or Judaism) has to be enjoyable. Nor is it meant to be. At least not in the immediate gratification, self-centered sense of the word. Sometimes your enjoyment should not ...
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Alshich explains that Yisro was worried: Perhaps Moshe would not be interested in a Midyanite woman and would rather marry a Jewess. He therefore emphasized that he brought "her two sons" with him (and not "his two sons"), since a man comes to like his wife because of the children she bears him, and this would persuade Moshe to remarry Tziporah. (See also ...
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Basically, we don't have the power to declare someone categorically exempt. Abudraham suggested one explanation, but our system of laws categorically says "all men are obligated", "all women are not."
If a person is truly in a situation beyond their control, halacha recognize that. If it's five minutes before sunset and a single dad who hasn't yet prayed ...
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In "What's in a Name", the English translation of Zusha Wilhelm's sefer "Ziv HaShemot", the following is stated:
1) Some say that one may name a male child after a female. (See Bris Avos 8:37; See also Koreis HaBris, Posach Eliyahu, note 8; See Kuntres HaShemos (revised edition), Vol 7, p. 10; See Sefer HaBris, p. 313; See the Midrash on Pinchas (13:12) ...
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Sort of. Rambam writes (Teshuvah 4:3):
To use translation on chabad.org (their additions in brackets, my one addition in {curly brackets}:
Among these [24 {sins which make repentance hard}] are five
[transgressions] for which it is impossible for the person who commits
them to repent completely. They are sins between man and man,
concerning which ...
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I agree with @ba, but will approach this slightly differently:
We certainly understand how people with physical ailments are restricted from physical circumstances. You have to be in good health to go on roller-coasters, to go sky diving, etc.
But Judaism is not just a physical religion of doing acts, it is spiritual as well. A person who comes into ...
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Great question!
This can be understood Cabalistically based on the idea that the soul of the deceased transmigrates into the new child. As such the soul of Machlon has passed into this child so that in a manner of speaking this is a child to Naomi. (cf. Likuetei Moharan 21:6)
Furthermore note that during the discussion between Rus and Naomi about visiting ...
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The Shulchan Aruch rules in YD 269:1 that a convert is permitted to marry his mother (who has since also converted) according to Biblical law, but it is prohibited rabbinically. Additionally, in 269:5 he rules the same way regarding marrying a female convert and her daughter. I'm not sure exactly what your test is for 'halachik parentage', but certainly as ...
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No they are not Jewish.
Judaism is inherited from the mother. Having or not having a bris has no effect on if a person is Jewish.
I'm a little surprised the child had a brit - usually the mohel (person doing the circumcision) checks first if the child is actually Jewish to avoid situations like this. Perhaps it was a medical circumcision not a brit?
Also, ...
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Megilla 13b says that Ester would "rise from the bosom of Achashverosh and immerse herself and sit in the bosom of Mordechai". Tosfos Harosh asks how this was permitted due to the law of "havchana" (the requirement for a women to abstain from relations for three months between husbands to identify the father), and explains that she utilized ...
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These are my thoughts on the subject:
We are all obviously familiar with the concept of reward and punishment: When you do what G-d wants, He will reward you; when you do what He doesn't want, He will punish you (Lev. 26:3). But why should He ever punish someone: "Do I desire the death of an evil person?" (Eze. 18:23). Sin is not inherently bad — the only ...
6
According to Abarbanel, at that time and in that area, it must have been customary for the father to give the name to the first child and then alternate with the mother for future children. Here then, Yehuda names Er, his wife Shua names Onan, then Yehuda should have named the third child, except that he was absent during the birth ("וְהָיָה בִכְזִיב ...
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While Jewish law applies patrilineal descent to other nations (Yevamos 78b), Nachmanides writes that matrilineal descent applied to the Jewish people from the time of Avraham and onwards (Commentary to Vayikra 24:10). This is justified by the existence of some degree of Israelite nationhood from the time of the Patriarchs, which is suggested by the Talmud's ...
5
I do not know any classic authorities which discuss this but here is a take I believe to be consistent with Jewish thought.
As noted in the linked discussion, the term bastard is a misleading translation. A mamzer is someone whose parents sexual relationship is inconceivable. The example I would use is that between a brother and a sister. We also apply this ...
5
Actually, the father (and mother) do carry the Mitzvos; they get rewarded for their children's good deeds. Not only before but after their children's bar/Bat Mitzva as well.
And that is the reason for orphans saying Kaddish; every Mitzva they do is credited to their parents. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch recommends that a person's will should include the ...
5
From http://www.shemayisrael.com/parsha/alport/archives/matos67.htm
ונבח הלך וילכד את קנת ואת בנתיה ויקרא לה נבח בשמו 32:41-42
Rav Aizik Ausband was once faced with a dilemma. His father-in-law,
Rav Avrohom Yitzchok Bloch Hy”d, was one of the leaders of the Telz
yeshiva who was tragically murdered in the Holocaust. Rav Ausband’s
wife was ...
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From Nitei Gavriel Succos 94:11:14 it seems to be a more recent Minhag.
כתר שם טוב ח״ז עמוד רי׳׳ט, שנעשה להרבות שמחה ביניהם. וכ״ב בקובץ כרם
שלמה גליון תשרי תשמ״ג עמוד ה׳ מהגה״ק רבי משה מראזוודוב זצ״ל, עפ׳׳י סוד
טעם למנהגן של ישראל לעשות דגלים שנודע דג׳ רגלים פסח שבועות וסוכות,
אינון חסד גבורה תפארת ג׳ דגלי המרכבה, וחג הזה הוא דגל רביעי שבמרכבה,
...
5
The Nishmas Avraham (Chelek Daled Siman 42) discusses this. An adopted child is obligated to honor his adoptive parents in order to express gratitude for the kindness they did for him, but does not have the the actual mitzvah of honoring parents. He should say kadish for them but not at the expense of the biological children. He is not obligated to tear ...
5
Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah Siman 240:2 says “it is forbidden to call a parent or refer to them by their name; rather they need to be referred to as “My father [my teacher]”.
This post shows that the use of the third person was well-known in the past.
But for today, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg in his blog says “My father zt”l often explained that each generation ...
4
After perusing the Tanach to confirm, I have some found some answers to this question:
First, Shlomo definitely had contact with both his parents. He was anointed by Nathan and Zadok, at David's command, in I Melechim 1:32-34. There must have been some contact time between then and when David charged him with farewell instructions in Chapter 2. As for ...
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It is certainly possible to transfer ownership of an object to a child. One place this is made clear is in the Gemara (Sukkah 46b) which says that one should not transfer possession of his lulav to a child on the first day of Sukkos. The reasoning is that the child is not of legal age to transfer it back, and therefore the adult will not be able to perform ...
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The principle derives from the Mishna, Kiddushin 3:12. There it gives four different examples of possible sexual unions and relates the status of the child in each example:
כל מקום שיש קדושין ואין עברה הולד הולך אחר הזכר. ואיזו? זו כהנת לויה
וישראלית שנשאו לכהן וללוי ולישראל. וכל מקום שיש קדושין ויש עברה הולד
הולך אחר הפגום. ואיזו? זו אלמנה לבהן ...
3
I heard a talk from Rabbi Barry Freundel at a medical ethics conference several years ago. The mitzva per se of pru urvu means: "marry someone who is able to bear children, to the best of your knowledge, and go about normal married life." One of the Achronim (sorry don't recall offhand) specifically writes he's not sure if one fulfills pru urvu if one's ...
3
Generally minors (i.e. girls under 12) were not married by their fathers unless the situation was desperate, the father could not support them, and instead found his daughters a husband who could support them.
Even in such a case, the marriage was not usually consummated, but rather the girl would live with her husbands family till she got older. And ...
3
Our actions have consequences. Someone chooses to shoot someone, the victim gets shot. (As for why G-d allows that to happen, that's a broader question.)
The Bible is making clear that adultery and incest are so bad, that before you ever think of doing either, be aware that any children resulting from it -- as a consequence -- will be prohibited from ...
3
To the best of my knowledge, there is no such thing as an unforgiveable sin. The 3 sins that are thought to be the "worst" are Murder, Idolatry, and Forbidden Relations. These are considered so severe that a Jew is commanded to let himself be killed rather than transgress them. (By contrast, every other sin can (and many times, must,) be violated to save ...
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A couple of other pertinent sources not cited here:
- The Chida (Yosef Ometz 85) allows the MOTHER of the child to be a sandeket;
- The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Peilim Helek 4, Sod Yesharim, 11) notes that the Zohar equates being a sandak with the bringing of the ketoret - a job reserved for men – such that, "l'hathila", a man should be the Sandak, but implying ...
3
I was at the bar mitzvah of the adopted son of Rabbi Yitzchok Breitowitz, shlita. At the bar mitzvah, the rabbi explained that his son had been converted conditionally as a small child by putting him in a mikvah and by the parents committing themselves to raise him as a Jew. But since the child cannot yet speak for himself (until he reaches 13 -- or 12 for ...
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