Halachic Highlights

Question: May a child name-drop his famous and respected parent in order to receive a promotion or honor?

Short Answer: If a child is going to mention his own reputation/name in order to receive a promotion or honor, he should instead mention his parent’s name, assuming his parent is respected, as this gives the parent the honor.

Question: Is a son ever obligated to stop learning Torah to perform kibud av va’eim?

Short Answer: Yes, depending on the situation, a son must sometimes stop learning Torah in order to perform kibud av va’eim, especially if the task will only take a few minutes.

Question: May a child ever receive help from a parent?

Short Answer: Yes, a child may accept an offer for help from a mother or a non-“ben Torah” father. If the ben Torah father insists on helping, many hold that a child may accept the help. There is also room to be lenient if the father is just performing basic tasks for the child or is helping the child perform a mitzvah.

Question: Must a child listen to a parent who commands the child to bring the parent a cigarette or other unhealthful/dangerous food items?

Question: May a child place an elderly parent in a nursing home instead of caring for the parent in his own home? If yes, who pays for the nursing home?

Question: Is it ever permitted for a child to say the name of his parent?

Short Answer: Even though some do not allow a child to mention his parent’s name after a preface such as “my father, so and so,” many poskim allow a child to say his parent’s name with such a preface or even without a preface for purely identification purposes.