Jewish Education: Children

From when must parents begin teaching their children Torah?

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A child's Jewish education actually begins before birth. We are taught that there is an angel in the womb of a pregnant woman that teaches the baby the entire Torah. (1) Furthermore, a pregnant woman is encouraged to be especially meticulous in her observance of mitzvot because her conduct while pregnant can have a spiritual effect on her child.(2) From here we see that not only is it important to begin Torah study at a young age, it is also important to begin performing mitzvot early, as well.(3)Cchildren should be trained to begin performing mitzvot when they are five or six years old depending on the child's intelligence.

Originally, fathers would be the ones to teach their children Torah. As such, children who did not have a father would be deprived of a Torah education. The sages then decreed that teachers were to be hired in every community to teach those who did not have a father. Eventually, it became standard practice for all children to be taught by a teacher. (6) The Torah study of children is so important that it may not be interrupted even for the building of the Beit Hamikdash.(7) It is interesting to note that Torah teachers are generally forbidden to strike due to the interruption it would cause in the children’s studies.

One source for the importance of beginning Torah education at an early age is derived from the mitzva of "Hakhel." Hakhel is when the entire nation would assemble every seven years in Jerusalem in order to hear the king read portions of the Torah. Every single Jew was required to appear at this gathering – even young children and babies. (8) Indeed, we are told that the mother of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chanania would bring him in his cradle to the Beit Midrash so that he would be exposed to the sights and sounds of Torah study and be in an environment of holiness. (9) So too, it was customary for children to be brought to the Beit Hamikdash in order for them to observe the Kohanim engaged in the Temple service. Such children were said to be imbued with a deeper desire to learn Torah and observe mitzvot.

1. Nidda 30b.

2. Yoma 82b; Tosfot, Chagiga 15a.

3. OC 17:3; Mishna Berura 106:5.

4. Mishna Berura 128:123.

5.  See for example Sukka 42a and Sukka 28a.

6. Bava Batra 21a; Rambam, Hilchot Talmud Torah 2:1.

7. Shabbat 119b.

8. Minchat Chinuch 611.

9. Pele Yoetz, s.v. Torah; Yerushalmi, Yevamot 1:6; Tiferet Yisrael, Avot 2:8.