Va’eschanan 4:9 · unit 1

TT #12 · Parashas Va’eschanan · First Aliyah · Passuk 4:9

The Complete Passuk

רַ֣ק הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֩ וּשְׁמֹ֨ר נַפְשְׁךָ֜ מְאֹ֗ד פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֨ח אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־רָא֣וּ עֵינֶ֗יךָ וּפֶן־יָס֨וּרוּ֙ מִלְּבָ֣בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֣י חַיֶּ֑יךָ וְהוֹדַעְתָּ֥ם לְבָנֶ֖יךָ וְלִבְנֵ֥י בָנֶֽיךָ׃

Only take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children’s children.

Chabad.org — 4:9

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Kiddushin 30a (teaching one’s grandson is equivalent to receiving the Torah at Sinai).

Sefaria — Kiddushin 30a

E-Daf image — Kiddushin 30a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי: כָּל הַמְלַמֵּד אֶת בֶּן בְּנוֹ תּוֹרָה מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ קִבְּלָהּ מֵהַר חוֹרֵב, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וְהוֹדַעְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְלִבְנֵי בָנֶיךָ, וּכְתִיב בָּתְרֵיהּ יוֹם אֲשֶׁר עָמַדְתָּ לִפְנֵי ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּחֹרֵב.

English: R’ Yehoshua ben Levi said: Anyone who teaches his grandson Torah — Scripture accounts it to him as if he himself received it at Mount Chorev, as it is said “and make them known to your children and to your children’s children,” and immediately afterward it is written “the day that you stood before Hashem your God at Chorev.”

On the daf / in context: The juxtaposition of the two clauses equates the act of teaching a grandchild with the original reception of the Torah at Sinai.

Type of Learning

Semichut ha-parshiyos (adjacent clauses) — “vehodatem… u-livnei vanecha” joined to the day of standing at Chorev.

What Is Learned

Teaching Torah to one’s grandson is credited as though one stood again at Sinai and received the Torah anew.