DEUT72 See [[DEUT526]] Deuteronomy 11:19 children DORFFWITO 213

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DEUT73 Jewish law … obligates grandparents to assume [the costs of grandchildren's formal and informal Jewish education, e.g. Jewish day school, camps, youth groups] if they are at all able to do so. The Rabbis based this duty of grandparents on (this verse). On that verse the Rabbis said: "Are grandparents responsible for teaching their grandchildren? ... "And you shall teach your children" [Deuteronomy 11:19], from that I only know that I must teach my children; how do I know that I must also teach my grandchildren? Because the Torah says, "and make them known to your children and to your children's children [Deuteronomy 4:9]. (B. Kiddushin 30a). Thus grandparents who have the economic means to contribute to the Jewish education of their grandchildren should see it as their duty to do so. They should also see it, of course, as their distinct privilege, for they are thereby making concrete contributions to the ongoing chain of the Jewish tradition in the most personal way possible, through their own posterity.

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DEUT74 See [[DEUT271]] Deuteronomy 6:7 teach CCCBM 27-9

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DEUT75 Among those injunctions that depend on [the thoughts of] the heart: "Beware, lest you forget Hashem, your God" (Devarim 8:11). Our Sages, z"l, said (Makos 13b): "Wherever it says, 'beware,' 'lest,' and 'do not,' it is referring to a negative commandment." Herein we have been admonished to remember Hashem at all times. One is obligated to try and constantly internalize those norms of conduct that are bound to [this] remembering [I.e., A person must exert himself to acquire those characteristics that are fully attained only when one recalls Hashem's presence (Zeh Hasha'ar)] --such as fearing Hashem, modesty, refinement of thought, and proper development of character traits. By recalling Hashem's Name, the holy seed [of Yisrael] requires every demeanor of beauty adorning its owner, as the pasuk says (Yeshayahu 45:25), "Through Hashem, all the seed of Yisrael will become righteous and glorified." ... "Beware, and diligently safeguard your soul, lest you forget the things you saw" [this verse]. Our Sages, z"l, said (Menachos 99b) that anyone who forgets one thing from what he has learned has transgressed two prohibitions. [I.e., "Beware" and "lest"; see previous paragraph] you would perhaps think that this also applies to one who has difficulty retaining what he has learned? Therefore the verse tells us (ibid.), "lest they be removed from your heart"-- the pasuk is referring only to one who removes [the words of Torah] from his heart by the neglect of Torah study, and by not constantly delving into it.

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DEUT76 Because of the centrality given study of the Torah, the obligation to study could not be restricted to a scholarly elite, but was viewed as a lifelong endeavor, incumbent upon each person. In Maimonides' words, "Every Jew is under an obligation to study Torah, whether rich or poor, healthy or ailing, young or old, vigorous or feeble.…. Until the day of one's death, as it is written (this verse). Learning is not meant to be a passing fad, a demand only put upon the young, but a lifelong quest for knowledge, wisdom, and self understanding… Study is the means by which Jewish ethical and religious teachings are preserved and transmitted. Without continuous study, tradition would come to an abrupt halt. Judaism would become a fossil, a relic for investigation rather than a living and lived faith. But, while study of the Torah serves to perpetuate Judaism, and while it has its own intrinsic value, study of Torah has been understood to have other goals and functions, including the creation of the artful life. (E.g., Ethics of the Fathers 3:17). The goal of study is not nearly to amass information, but to bring about the spiritual transformation of the individual.

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DEUT77 One who is forgetful must provide reminders for himself and he must erect formidable fences so that he not forget the Torah, as it is written [this verse]. And one must take care not to forget the good traits. But one should employ the trait of forgetfulness to forget the mitzvos which he has done, for if he sets his heart to remembering his mitzvos and his good deeds and to forgetting his evils and his errors and his machinations, he will be righteous in his eyes and will not repent. But he should remember his offenses and write them down in a book and peruse them, so that he will remember them all and repent of each one and confess them. The mitzvos that he has performed, however, he should not take care to remember, and it should always appear to him that he is empty of mitzvos and filled with transgressions (Niddah 30b). And he should forget his friend's offense and pardon him, and he should cause to be forgotten from his heart hatred and envy and lewd thoughts. And while praying he should cause everything in the world to be forgotten from his heart, and summon up to his thoughts the lovingkindness of the Blessed One and cleave to Him in great intimacy. And when he attends to his bodily needs, he must cause to be forgotten from his heart all matters of Torah and of holiness (Berachos 24b). He should think at that time of his household affairs and he should reflect that he is full of dung, thus lowering his pride. In sum, with respect to each mitzvah, he should do something not to forget [to observe] it, (Mishlei 6;23): "A mitzvah is a lamp, and Torah is light."

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DEUT78 In Judaism, faith is grounded in memory. Hebrew Scripture does not command belief in God, but enjoins us to remember experiences of the divine. Belief in God is not simply a personal endeavor. It is an effort accumulated over the centuries; it is the achievement of a continuity of the ages. Jewish belief is a recollection of events in the life of the Jewish people. Not abstract ideas, but memory of concrete events is the touchstone of Jewish belief: (this verse). In the Passover liturgy for the Seder, called the Haggadah, one encounters the notion that Jewish belief is predicated upon memories rather than upon inferred propositions.

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DEUT79 It was taught: One who curses himself transgresses a negative commandment, viz.: "Only take heed to yourself and heed your soul exceedingly." This is in accordance with the view of R. Avin, to wit: Wherever "Take heed," "Lest," or "Do not" is written, a negative commandment is indicated (Shevuoth 36a)

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DEUT80 See [[LEV1075]] Leviticus 25:38 live HURWITZ 70, ft. 6

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DEUT81 It was taught: "And you shall impart them to your sons and to the sons of your sons." This teaches us that if one teaches his [son's] son Torah, Scripture accounts it to him as if he had taught it to him, to his son, and to his son's son to the end of all the generations (Kiddushin 30a)

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