Va’eschanan 4:9 · unit 2

TT #13 · 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׃

…And make them known to your children and to your children’s children.

Chabad.org — 4:9

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to the baraisa that one who teaches his grandson is credited as having taught him, his son, and his grandson to the end of all generations (Kiddushin 30a).

Sefaria — Kiddushin 30a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
תַּנְיָא: וְהוֹדַעְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְלִבְנֵי בָנֶיךָ — מְלַמֵּד שֶׁכָּל הַמְלַמֵּד אֶת בֶּן בְּנוֹ תּוֹרָה מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ לְמָדוֹ לוֹ וּלְבָנוֹ וּלְבֶן בְּנוֹ עַד סוֹף כָּל הַדּוֹרוֹת.

English: It was taught: “And make them known to your children and to your children’s children” — this teaches that anyone who teaches his grandson Torah — Scripture accounts it to him as if he taught it to him, to his son, and to his grandson until the end of all generations.

On the daf / in context: The phrase “and to your children’s children” expands the credit of a single act of teaching into a multi-generational chain.

Type of Learning

Custom (expansive reading of “u-livnei vanecha”).

What Is Learned

Teaching a single grandson is regarded as having transmitted Torah through every subsequent generation.