What does "veshinantam" mean, and why is it important?

Veshinantam means "you shall teach diligently/sharply." The word comes from "shen" (tooth) — the image is of sharpening, of embedding something so deeply it comes out sharp and automatic. The Talmud (Kiddushin 30a) interprets this as teaching by repetition until the words of Torah are as natural to the student as speech itself. The commandment is not for classroom learning but for internalization.

On whom does the obligation to teach children Torah fall?

The Talmud (Kiddushin 29a) places the primary obligation on the father. If the father cannot teach himself, he must hire a teacher. The mother is not halakhically obligated to teach Torah to her children in the same way, but the tradition recognizes her critical role in creating an environment where Torah learning happens naturally — "who makes it possible for them to go to the house of study" (Berachot 17a).

What does "you shall speak in them" (vedibarta bam) mean?

The phrase means Torah should be the medium of daily speech, not a topic occasionally discussed. The Talmud (Yoma 19b) rules that when Leviticus 18:4 says "my ordinances you shall DO" — not "talk about" — it means that idle conversation should not replace Torah speech. Deuteronomy 6:7's "in them" is intentional: the words of Torah are what you speak in, not about. They are the air of daily speech, not the subject of occasional discussion.

What are the four situations Deuteronomy 6:7 names for teaching Torah?

Sitting at home, walking by the way, lying down, and rising up. The Talmud (Berachot 10b) understands these as covering the complete arc of daily life: private and public, stationary and in motion, beginning and ending each day. Torah teaching is not reserved for designated learning times; it permeates every transition and setting of daily life.

How does the finding of the Book of the Law in 2 Kings 22 illustrate what happens when Deuteronomy 6:7 is neglected?

When Hilkiah finds the Torah scroll in the Temple, it has apparently been lost or ignored for a generation or more. When Josiah hears it read, he tears his clothes in grief — the standard sign of catastrophic news. A generation had been born that did not know the Torah. The recovery of the scroll and Josiah's covenant renewal is the restoration of what Deuteronomy 6:7 required all along: a people continuously teaching and speaking Torah in every situation of daily life.

Commandment #202 · Positive · Social & Ethical Laws

You Shall Teach Them Diligently to Your Children: Torah Education

תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה לַבָּנִים

Source: Deuteronomy 6:7 · Maimonides, Laws of Torah Study 1:2

Deuteronomy 6:7 follows Deuteronomy 6:6 — "these words shall be on your heart" — with the transmission command: "veshinantam levanecha" — you shall teach them sharply/diligently to your children. "Veshinantam" comes from "shen" (tooth): the words are to be drilled in until they become sharp, second-nature, cutting through every situation. "Vedibarta bam" — you shall speak in them: at home (Deuteronomy 6:7), walking, lying down, rising. The commandment is not a classroom curriculum; it is a permeation of daily life with Torah.

Veshinantam: Teach Them Sharply

וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶך

"You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

Deuteronomy 6:7 — Open in Torah Reader

The Talmud (Kiddushin 29a–30b) develops the father's educational obligation: a father is obligated to teach his son Torah, to marry him off, to teach him a trade, and (some say) to teach him to swim. The Torah-teaching obligation is primary and first. The word "veshinantam" is interpreted in two ways: (1) from "shanah" (to repeat/review — "teach by repetition"), and (2) from "shen" (tooth — sharpen, so the words come out sharp from the mouth). The Talmud (Kiddushin 30a) rules that if a father cannot teach his son himself, he must hire a teacher. The obligation falls on the father (not the mother), but the mother's role in creating a Torah-learning environment is recognized in the tradition of praising women who "sent their children to Torah study."

"Vedibarta bam" — "you shall speak IN them" (not "about them"). Torah is not a subject to be discussed; it is the medium of speech. The daily discourse of an Israelite household is meant to be saturated with Torah content. Deuteronomy 6:6 makes clear that this permeation must begin with the parent's own heart: you cannot give what you don't have.

The Book of the Law Shall Not Depart From Your Mouth

לֹא-יָמוּשׁ סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה מִפִּיךָ וְהָגִיתָ בּוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it."

Joshua 1:8 — Open in Torah Reader

Joshua 1:8 is the commander's parallel to Deuteronomy 6:7. Moses has just died; Joshua is entering the land. God's command: "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night." The "mouth" here — the constant verbal engagement with Torah — is exactly what Deuteronomy 6:7 commands: speak them when sitting, walking, lying down, rising. The commandment to teach children is an extension of the commandment to speak Torah continuously yourself. The parent who teaches is the parent who first speaks Torah in the normal flow of daily life, and the child absorbs it.

The Mishnah Avot 2:5: "An ignorant person cannot be pious" (lo am ha'aretz chasid). Torah knowledge is the foundation of moral life; the father's obligation to teach is an obligation to give the child the tools for piety. The education commandment is thus not about academic achievement but about moral formation.

Key Figures

Shaphan the Scribe and the Book of the Law

2 Kings 22 records Hilkiah the high priest finding the Book of the Law in the Temple during Josiah's reforms. Shaphan the scribe reads it to the king; Josiah tears his clothes when he hears it and initiates a national covenant renewal. The episode illustrates what happens when Torah education collapses: a generation arises that has not heard the Torah read, and its recovery — through a scribe who reads it aloud — becomes a national turning point. Deuteronomy 6:7's command to speak Torah in every situation is precisely what prevents such collapse.

Ezra Reading the Law to the Assembly

Nehemiah 8:1–8 records Ezra reading the Torah from a wooden platform before all the people — men, women, "and those who could understand" — from morning until midday. The Levites helped the people understand what was read. The people wept when they heard the words. The scene is a public recovery of the Deuteronomy 6:7 commandment at the communal level: when the people who had been in exile returned, one of the first acts was the reading and explanation of Torah to an assembled community that included children old enough to understand.

Study Questions

For reflection and group study

What does "veshinantam" (derived from "shen," tooth/sharpen) reveal about HOW Torah is to be taught — and what kind of learning does the word describe?

What is the sequence in Deuteronomy 6:6–9, and why does the commandment to teach children (v.7) come AFTER "these words shall be on your heart" (v.6)?

What are the situations of daily life that Deuteronomy 6:7 names — sitting, walking, lying down, rising — and what does this universality say about the scope of Torah education?

How does Joshua 1:8's "this Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth" parallel Deuteronomy 6:7 — and what does a military commander's Torah meditation have to do with parent-child teaching?

How does Mishnah Avot 2:5's "an ignorant person cannot be pious" ground the educational commandment in moral formation rather than academic achievement?

Read the full passage in the Torah reader.

Read Deuteronomy 6 in the Torah Reader

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