Torah

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.

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.

Short Answer: Most poskim rule that a child cannot disagree or contradict a parent, regardless of whether the discussion is about Torah/halachah or other topics. However, there is room to be lenient if the child disagrees with the parent (i) not in the parent’s presence, (ii) with the parent’s permission, or (iii) in a questioning manner instead of a disagreeing or objecting manner.