Chinuch

There is a rabbinical obligation on every father to educate his children to fulfill mitzvot even before they reach the age of Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah. The age at which this obligation begins varies according to the Mitzvah. Below are the details of this Mitzvah.

Who is obligated in Chinuch?

• There is a machloket in the commentaries regarding whether the mitzvah of chinuch is for the parent or the child.

1. The book of Mishlei says that one should teach his child in a manner which will stick with him forever: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Rashi comments on this pasuk saying that depending on what you teach him those lessons will effect him the rest of his life. He is saying that the adult has the responsibility to correctly teach his son life lessons. This belief would suggest that chinuch is a mitzvah for the father, because he is the one who will have the ability to effect his child's future.
2. Rashi on the Gemara Berachot 20a also seems to indicate that the mitzvah is on the father because he says that a child who is of chinuch age is still not requried to say kriyat shema or put on tefillin because the rabbis did not require children to do mitzvot in which their fathers were not around to teach them.
3. Tosafot however seem to believe that the mitzvah of chinuch is for the child to do the mitzvah because Tosafot say that the child is responsible to say shema and put on tefillin once he reaches the age of chinuch even though the father would not always be around to teach him.
4. While the majority of the Poskim hold that Chinuch only applies to the father, some say it also applies to the mother.

Until When?

1. Although the primary purpose of Chinuch is to train children when they are young so that they continue to perform the Mitzvot during adulthood, the parents' obligations does not end when a child reaches bar or bat mitzvah. A parent must make sure that the child continues to adhere to all biblical or rabbinic laws even after maturity.

Daily Mitzvot

1. Regarding a child's obligation to pray, see the Obligation_to_pray#Children page.

Teaching Children Berachot

• Children should be taught to say berachot before food at the age of 5, or when the children are able to say it properly. However many people have different customs to start having children say berachot at an earlier age.
• Some say that children from the age of 6 should say Birkat Hamazon
• In order to teach children what berachot they should say, and how they should say them, the parent should show/teach the children by saying berachot in front of the child. A parent of a young child is allowed to help the child say the berachot by saying it with them, including the saying of G-d’s name, and the parent is allowed to answer “amen” to berachot that are said improperly or are incomplete if the child is still learning.
• Children that are older than five or six, or whatever age the accepted custom says, and get up in the middle of the night, should not eat unless they said the proper berachot before hand.
• While there is a prohibition in saying G-d's Name (Ado-nai), when it is isn't warranted, the prohibition is waived when being used in the process of Chinuch. Therefore, it is permitted(obligatory, rather) to say the full Bracha, with Shem and Malchut, in order to teach a child how and when to say what Brachot.

The Age for Washing for Bread

1. Children that have not reached the age of bar or bat mitzvah are required to wash their hands before eating bread. Even though washing hands is a mitzvah derabanan, it is a mitzvah of chinuch to teach kids mitzvot that are derabanan.
2. One opinion is that even when the child is being spoon fed because he does not have the motor skills to feed himself yet, he still is required to wash for bread when he eats more than a Kezayit.
3. Harav Adir Cohen says that when the child can say the bracha they should wash their hands before eating bread. Since in many kindergarten and nursery classrooms they have posters of the bracha on the wall, they have already memorized it when they are young. Therefore, they should be able to wash by then.

Holidays

1. There is a minhag for a boy to fast 3 fasts prior to his Bar Mitzvah.

Chinuch Attitude

1. A life devoted to HaShem is the most pleasurable and fulfilling one. Therefore, the Chinuch stage must be pleasing and joyful for children. The proper attitude and approach for children to learn is through "Darchei No'am" (pleasant ways).
2. A parent and/or teacher should generally be careful not to be excessively forceful. There are several cases where Talmudic personalities praised their behavior of not being "makpid"(strict) in their home over their wives and children even though they lived a life filled with mitzvot.
3. An important lesson about chinuch in general can be learned from a story about trying to teach one’s son to wash before eating. It talks about a little kid who did not wash before eating bread. This infuriated his dad so he went to get something to hit him with. When he wound up to hit his son, his wife immediately stopped him and reminded him that he does not wash before eating bread either, thus he should be the one that is hit. The lesson is that if you want to successfully teach your children mitzvot, you have to take ownership and do the mitzvah as well.