- Q. Kevod Rabenu Shlit’a. I have a number of questions regarding an article I recently saw written by someone close to the Toronto Kollel.
1) Is it true that according to Torah views a parent loves his grandchildren more than his own children?
A. Indeed, Rav Moishe Friedman Shlit’a quoted in his weekly, most interesting, fascinating and valuable points and surprising teachings, known as Emailim Batorah that:
“The Zohar ( Parshas ויחי) writes: "Yaakov bentched (blessed) his grandchildren before bentching his own children because one loves his grandchildren more than his children."
We also find similar ideas in Grandchildren that represent a continuation of the family lineage, and many grandparents experience a deep emotional connection to them. This bond can be stronger than with their own children due to the lessened responsibility and the joy of watching their grandchildren grow.
Unlike parenting, which comes with significant responsibilities and stresses, being a grandparent often allows for a more relaxed relationship. Grandparents can enjoy their time with grandchildren without the day-to-day pressures of parenting.
We must also mention that Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said, “Whoever teaches their grandchildren Torah is regarded as if they had received the Torah from Mount Sinai, as it is said, ‘Teach your children and your children's children.’” Deut. 4:10-11; Kiddushin 30a
The Talmud Yerushalmi puts it differently.
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi used to listen, every Friday, to his grandson reciting the weekly parsha. One week he entered the bathhouse, and after he had begun bathing he remembered that he had not yet heard the weekly parsha from his grandson.
So he immediately got up to leave the bathhouse... They asked him why he was leaving in the middle of his bathing, since the Mishnah teaches that once you have begun bathing on a Friday afternoon, you should not interrupt the process. He replied, “Is this such a small thing in your eyes? For whoever hears the parsha from his grandchild is as if he heard it directly from Mount Sinai” (Yerushalmi Shabbat 1:2).
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon
Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit'a
Important Numbers
