(כא) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר,
בֶּן חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים לַמִּקְרָא,
בֶּן עֶשֶׂר לַמִּשְׁנָה,
בֶּן שְׁלשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה לַמִּצְוֹת,
בֶּן חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה לַתַּלְמוּד,
בֶּן שְׁמוֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה לַחֻפָּה,
בֶּן עֶשְׂרִים לִרְדּוֹף,
בֶּן שְׁלשִׁים לַכֹּחַ,
בֶּן אַרְבָּעִים לַבִּינָה,
בֶּן חֲמִשִּׁים לָעֵצָה,
בֶּן שִׁשִּׁים לַזִקְנָה,
בֶּן שִׁבְעִים לַשֵּׂיבָה,
בֶּן שְׁמוֹנִים לַגְּבוּרָה,
בֶּן תִּשְׁעִים לָשׁוּחַ,
בֶּן מֵאָה כְּאִלּוּ מֵת וְעָבַר וּבָטֵל מִן הָעוֹלָם:
(21) [Yehudah ben Tema] used to say:
5 years [is the age] for [studying] Torah,
10 [is the age] for [studying] Mishnah,
13 [is the age] for [observing] mitzvot,
15 [is the age] for [studying] "Talmud",
18 [is the age] for the [wedding] canopy,
20 [is the age] for pursuing [livelihood],
30 [is the age] for [full] strength,
40 [is the age] for understanding,
50 [is the age] for [giving] advice,
60 [is the age] for maturity,
70 [is the age] for white hair,
80 [is the age] for might,
90 [is the age] to become hunched,
100 [is the age at which it is] as if one has died, passed away, and ceased from the world.
This teaching lists moments of growth throughout a person's life.
...[יודע] לנענע חייב בלולב
יודע להתעטף חייב בציצית
יודע לדבר אביו מלמדו שמע ותורה ולשון קודש...
יודע לשמור תפיליו אביו לוקח לו תפילין...
...[A child who knows] how to wave [the lulav] is required [to wave] the lulav.
One who knows how to wrap [a tallit],
is required [to wear] tzitzit.
One who can speak - their parent teaches them the Shema' and the Torah and the Holy Language (Hebrew)...
One who knows how to care for tefillin - their parent gets them tefillin...
This text (#2) is from a similar time period to text #1.
רבי לוי אמר...כך כל י"ג שנה, שניהם הולכים לבית הספר, ושניהם באים מבית הספר. לאחר י"ג שנה, זה היה הולך לבתי מדרשות, וזה היה הולך לבתי עבודת כוכבים. אמר רבי אלעזר: צריך אדם להטפל בבנו עד י"ג שנה, מיכן ואילך צריך שיאמר: "ברוך שפטרני מעונשו של זה"
Rabbi Levi said, "...For 13 years both [Jacob and Esau] went to school and came [home] from school. After 13 years, one went to the house of study and the other to idolatrous shrines.
Rabbi El'azar said: A person must take care of (or be responsible for) their child until 13 years. From that point on, they should say, "Blessed is the One who has freed me from the responsibility (or punishment) over this [child].”
This source imagines what Jacob and Esau would have been like at age 13. It then mentions the same blessing that many parents say today when their child becomes bar/t mitzvah.
- How does this source explain the difference between the ideas of responsibility in sources #1 and #2?
- Does this text bother you in any way?