Halakhic changes in the interpretation of the commandment to educate a child to observe commandments

This review shows that Jewish understanding of the nature of the obligation to educate a child to observe the commandments has changed over time and should not be regarded as fixed or absolute. Early Tannaitic halakhah focused on the age at which the child possessed the physical ability to perform the commandments, not specifically twelve for a girl or thirteen for a boy. Education was directed at encouraging the child to observe the commandment as soon as he or she was physically capable of doing so. Additionally, early law understood that every Jew must ensure that his fellow-Jew perform the commandments, not just the child's parents. In later law, the child's obligation was postponed to thirteen, and, in this setting, the obligation to educate a child under that age was interpreted as a distinct commandment intended to ensure that the child became accustomed to doing so. This obligation now specifically applied to the father and not to every Jew (and even not to the mother), and it was interpreted as separate from the general responsibility of a Jew towards his fellow-Jew.