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Comments Regarding: Teaching Our Children ©
By Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk
Understanding the Honor Ha Torah Requires for Parents ©
Parshat Mishpatim
Shemot [Exodus] 21.1 - 24.18
Why Did Avraham Send Yishmael and Hagar Away Penniless? ©
Limood
Bereisheit [Genesis] 21.1 - 34
Our Devri Torah is in the loving Memory of Mr. Yochanan, Mr. Lee Davis, Mrs Leann Davis and Mrs. Kathleen Travis may they rest in peace.
Dear Ones this is a series of follow up questions regarding last weeks Parshat Mishpatim and Torah Limood.
Question:
Dr. Akiva Gamliel, in one of your recent audio / note lectures you spoke of our obligation in teaching our children. Would you elaborate more on the differences between the obligations for Noachide parents & children, and between Jewish parents and children and between Jewish parents and Noachide children that may include Chrisitan children etc?
First, Jewish Parents are required to teach all the Mitzvot of Ha Torah to their Jewish children as best as they can throughout their entire life. Jewish Parents are never relieved of these Commands in Ha Torah. This can be challenging especially if parents are widowed, divorced, separated, or are of different Torah Understanding.
Second, Jewish Parents are required to teach their non-Jewish children the Mitzvot of Ha Torah as best as they can throughout their entire life. Jewish Parents with Noachide Children i.e. non-JEWISH CHILDREN are never relieved of these Commands in Ha Torah. This means Jewish Parents with non-Jewish children are required to Teach their children the Seven Laws of Noach which branch out into 66 + Commands. AGAIN, This can be challenging especially if parents are widowed, divorced, separated, or are of different Torah Understanding OR ARE OF ANOTHER RELIGION.
For example:
a. What does one do if one's Children are raised as Old Testament / New Testament Bible believing Christians?
b. What does one do if one's Children are raised as New Testament, i.e. The Gospels and the Epistles?
c. What does one do if one's Children are raised as Epistles Christians?
These three Questions can raise some really interesting answers.
G-d Willing I will use an example of Torah Nidda and Rabbinical Nidda to help explan these questions.
"Taharat HaMishpacha" - "family purity;" laws regarding Sexual Discipline in Marriage. In marital law, immersion of the wife in a Mikvah is a vital component. These laws are based on the verse: "You shall not come near a woman, while she is impure by her uncleanness, to uncover her nakedness" (Lev. 18:19).
Quoting several paragraphs from "To Be a Jew," by Rabbi Chaim HaLevy Donin, published by Basic Books, N.Y., 1972:
"For a full seven day period from the onset of the monthly menstrual period, the Torah prohibits all sexual relations between husband and wife. The technical term for the state in which the wife is in during the menstrual period is called "niddah" (literal meaning: to be removed or separated)."
"By Rabbinic edict, the Talmud extended this period of separation (niddah) to "seven clean days" following the menstrual period. Since the menstrual period lasts about five days for the average woman, the total period of separation that is in force each month is about twelve days."
"A woman remains in the state of 'niddah' until she has immersed herself in a ritual body of water ('mikvah'). This immersion is the ritual act that divides the two periods of time - the period of separation when marital relations are forbidden and the period of union when such relations are not only permissible but regarded as essential to physical and mental health."
"It is the responsibility of the wife to note carefully the day on which she last saw blood and to count the seven "clean" days that follow, so that her visit to the mikvah is neither too soon nor unnecessarily delayed." http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/tw.htm
Third, Noachide Parents are required to teach their non-Jewish children the Mitzvot of Ha Torah as best as they can throughout their entire life. Noachide Parents with Noachide Children i.e. non-JEWISH CHILDREN are never relieved of these Commands in Ha Torah. This means Nochide Parents with non-Jewish children are required to Teach their children the Seven Laws of Noach which branch out into 66 + Commands. AGAIN, This can be challenging especially if parents are widowed, divorced, separated, or are of different Torah Understanding OR ARE OF ANOTHER RELIGION.
May each of us improve our Torah Observances.
Blessings Health, Prosperity, Kindness and Peace,
Dr. Akiva Gamliel
