The Gemara comes out that if a person isn't rich, feeding his kids is not an obligation but only a דין דרבנן that isn't enforceable. Tosfos points out from the Gemara later that kids less then six years old are a real obligating that is enforceable.
It would seem that even less then six is only מדרבנן, however, the חתם סופר seems to say that it is a Torah obligation. The source is the din of עבד עברי as the Ramban explains that the obligation of the Master to feed the kids of his slave is because until now the father was feeding them and now he isn't available to make his own money. We see from this that the Torah expects and demands that the father support his young children.
Further, says the חת"ס that the פסוקים are very מדוייק as the verses describing a slave being freed after 6 years do not mention his kids (when he is freed) while a slave that goes out because of יובל there the verses do mention his kids. The reason is that when he goes out @ six years, the master already got "rid" of their support when the turned six, unlike by a slave that goes out @ Yovel only then does that master get "rid" of their support.
Editor's Note: On this topic of a father's obligation to support his kids, R' Zalman Nechemia Goldberg wrote me a Haskama for a sefer that I am publishing soon and in his haskama he deals with this issue in a very mechudash way. See here for his chiddush and my heara on his chiddush (good reading material over shabbos):
http://www.jsnseforim.com/rzn%20%2D%20haskama.pdf
2 comments:
Reb Moshe says that if one has one boy and one girl, he is obligated min hatorah to feed them because if they die, he will not be mekayem peru urevu.
dear editor,
i enjoyed your piece. the difference of opinions between you and the Rabbi seems minute. I would think he also agrees there is no real chiyuv, not being an "achzar" is a chiyuv coming from hilchos midos and not a typical chiyuv d'robonon (the famous question and answer of Rav Chaim Vital - why we aren't commanded on midos. So the machlokes between you and him is if we consider an achzar which come from hilchos midos to be a chiyuv or not concerning if to consider this as tzedaka or not. something to think about...
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