DEUT82 It was taught: A father is duty-bound to marry off his son, it being written: "And you shall impart them to your sons and to the sons of your sons." When can you attain to: "Your sons and the sons of your sons"? When you marry off your sons young (Yerushalmi Kiddushin 1:7)

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DEUT83 It was taught: If one hears a section [of Torah] from his son's son, it is as if he would have heard it at Mount Sinai. Whence is this derived? From: "And you shall impart them to your sons and to the sons of your sons," followed by: "The day you stood before the Lord your God in Chorev" -- [i.e., If you hear it from the son of your son] it is just as [if you heard it] the day you stood before the Lord your God in Chorev (Yerushalmi Kiddushin 1:7)

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DEUT84 It was taught: Though it was ruled that one must marry off his son, even so, if he did not do so, the son is obliged to find a wife for himself. Whence is this derived? From: "Vehodatam" -- [a capsulization of] "Vehodatam atem" ["and you yourselves shall impart them" (to your sons by marrying off yourselves if your father has not done so)] (Yerushalmi Kiddushin 1:7)

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DEUT85 R. Yehoshua b. Levi said: If one teaches his [son's] son Torah, Scripture accounts it to him as if he had received it at Mount Chorev, it being written: "And you shall impart them to your sons and to the sons of your sons," followed by: "The day you stood before the Lord in Chorev" (Berachoth 21b)

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DEUT86 Our sages understood this as meaning that we are commanded to avoid unnecessary danger.

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DEUT87 Greater is Torah than the cohen's realm and than royalty: for royalty is acquired with thirty attainments, and the cohen's realm with twenty-four, while the Torah is acquired by forty-eight things. And they are: [44] learns in order to teach; Pirkei Avot, Perek VI, mishnah 6. This tells us not only why the dedicated scholar studies, but how. If a person learns merely for his own sake, he may give his lesson only cursory attention and stop after a superficial reading, "once over lightly." That, he may feel, is good enough for him. But when he intends to teach others, he knows he must gain a thorough grasp of the material, understand every point and every turn. It is not enough to fool himself that he has understood a given chapter. He will never fool his students, whose eager young minds will tear at the leash to try him and test him. So he studies "in order to teach"--with a persevering thoroughness. Actually, this is the only kind of study our faith considers worthy of the name. Scripture admonishes each parent about his precepts, "you shall make them known to your children and children's children"; "you shall teach them diligently to your children" [this verse, Deuteronomy 6:7]. Pure study just to the deck and festoon the mind is little valued in our faith. If you know, teach; share your learning; else, it will moulder and turn into a curse.

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DEUT89 Are there any reasons in Jewish law not to take drugs? The main reason why drugs would be immoral and against Jewish law is that for reasons of health. There have been many studies done showing the negative effects of drugs. It is true that each drug has a slightly different effect and that none of the results are agreed-upon by everyone. Yet, there is strong consensus that regular drug use causes damage to one's body, whether it be to the brain, liver, or to the entire system. In Judaism, doing damage to one's body clearly violates many precepts. One Torah [this] verse states that a person should watch and guard himself. A second instance just six verses later[Deuteronomy 4:15] says virtually the same thing, but the word me'od, meaning "very much so," is added. One therefore must protect one's body from harm "very much." Why is this so? Can't a person claim it's his or her life and his or her body and if the person wishes to ruin it, that is a personal choice? Judaism disagrees with this view. While we may use our bodies as can anyone who borrows an item from a friend, our body does not belong to us. It belongs to God, who "lends" it to us (Maimonides, Hilchot Roze'ach 1:4). And like a borrowed item that must be properly watched even as it is allowed to be used and then returned intact, we have an obligation to watch our bodies and return them as intact as possible to God when we die. Therefore, we may not do anything that brings harm to our body. That is also why suicide is illegal in Jewish law--it is not our body to do with as we wish. This is not just a philosophic idea. Maimonides (Maimonides, Hilchot Roze'ach 11:5) specifically rules that a person who has this attitude, that is," I do not care what people say, I can do what I want to my body," is punished. Therefore, taking drugs, which does harm to the body, would not be permitted. Rabbi Akiva (Bava Kamma 90b) in an earlier century ruled that a person may not intentionally cause damage to his or her body.

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DEUT90 Based on two [this and Deuteronomy 4:15] verses, a Jew is not allowed to put himself or others in any form of danger and must prevent a possible precarious situation from occurring. Therefore, if it could be conclusively proven that [taking an action] would place people in mortal danger, it would not be permitted...

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DEUT91 See [[LEV479]] Leviticus 19:16 idly AMEMEI 259

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DEUT88 (Continued from [[DEUT1633]] Deuteronomy 30:19 life BLOCH 241-2) Every effort must therefore be made to preserve and prolong it. The rabbis cited several biblical injunctions as the source of the obligation to safeguard one's health. The commands "Only take heed to thyself, and watch thy soul carefully" [this verse] and "You should be very careful of your souls" (Deuteronomy 4:15) were regarded as warnings against endangering one's life (Berachot 32b). Another source is [Genesis 2:7]: "And man became a living soul." "The Bible thereby implies, 'keep alive the soul which I gave you'" (Taanit 22b). Maimonides (12th-cent.) addressed a warning to those who allege that their state of health should be of no concern to other people. "There are many things which the rabbis have prohibited because they endanger of human life. He who says: 'I am only endangering myself, and no others have a right to interfere,' the rabbis may administer to them disciplinary flogging" (Hilchot Rotzeach 11:5). Man has a right to put himself to shame, if he is indifferent to public opinion, but no one may lawfully injure himself (Baba Kama 91b).

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