Fulfilling My Talmudic Duty

The Talmud has this to say about a father's obligations towards his son:

"A father is obligated to do the following for his son: to circumcise him, to redeem him if he is a first born, to teach him Torah, to find him a wife, and to teach him a trade. Others say: teaching him how to swim as well." (Kiddushin 29a)

In other words, a father is duty bound to prepare his son to face the world. Most halachic (Jewish law) authorities state that if a father can not provide any of the above services for his son, he must hire a person who can.

This is a good thing since my circumcision skills are a bit rusty. As I go through the checklist, I can see what I've taken care of and what I have yet to do for both of my sons:

• Circumcision - check


• Redemption of the first born - check (we donated to the state of Israel instead of to a Kohen, but I count this as completed)


• Teaching them Torah - check. In fact, I wrote a rather large check to the Hebrew School.


• Teaching them to swim - check

As a matter of fact, I got to watch both Omri and Micah at their swimming class today. Shirah usually takes them since I often work until 6pm. Today I made a point of getting home in time for their class. "You've got to see how much they've progressed," Shirah told me.

She was right. Considering that both of them were starting from pretty much nothing this January, it was wonderful to see them gliding through the water, floating on their backs, and completely submerging themselves for as long as their breath held out. It's like a light went on in their brains, and they suddenly realized just how much fun swimming truly can be. For me this is wonderful, not just because I feel like I'm fulfilling my Talmudic duty, but because I love to swim and I want to pass on this affinity to my children. Maybe they'll grow up and live somewhere on a coast. And swim. And go SCUBA diving. And go boating. And invite me on their boat.

I know, I know...one thing at a time. First I need to teach them a trade and find them wives. Maybe I'll hunt for the wives myself instead of hiring a shadchan (matchmaker). I'm up for the challenge. If anyone is interested in setting up a shidduch (match), give me a call. My son's don't have trades yet, but at least they can swim. And they are learning Torah. Oh, and Omri can stick his foot behind his head.

Maybe I better hire a shadchan after all.