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Parents’ entertainment fee

שו”תCategory: Talmudic studyParents’ entertainment fee
asked 6 years ago

Good week Rabbi,
The verses present the matter of honoring parents as follows:
Exodus 21: Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long on the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 15: Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Chazal in Kiddushin, page 39b, offered two possible interpretations of the reward mentioned in the verse: individual reward in its simplest form or reward for the world to come (a world that is all good and whose existence is long). I thought of another possible interpretation that could resolve the difficulty in the Gemara there, that the reward that God promised is a collective reward intended for the entire Jewish people. That is, if the Jewish people observe the commandment to honor their parents, then they will merit a long life on the land of Israel and it will be well with them. The same is true regarding the reward promised in return for the commandment to send forth the nest. In addition, it is known that the commandment to honor one’s parents and provide for one’s family also applies to those who are not included in the division of the land (women, immigrants, etc.), and apparently such people should have been exempted from these commandments, and since they were not exempted, we can learn that the words: “So that your days may be prolonged on the land that the Lord your God is giving you” are interpreted as addressing the collective and not the individual. What do you think about this proposal?
Best regards,

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מיכי Staff answered 6 years ago

This is of course a possible suggestion. But the argument you raised at the end that even those who are not from the land are affected by this is not convincing. Women and immigrants also live in the land, and therefore they too will be exposed to it if they do not honor their parents.

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