Arachin 2 - 8
- The difference between arachin and nedarim and who can do either of them
- Mitzvot which all are obligated in
- The situation of kohanim wearing tefillin while dressed in their priestly garments
- If kohanim are obligated in mitzvah of machatzit hashekel
- A vow of arachin made in regard to a child less than 30 days old
- The vow of arachin made by a non-Jew or by a Jew about a non-Jew
- Accepting a gift to the Sanctuary from a non-Jew
- A vow of arachin made by a dying man or about him
- How to deal with a woman condemned to death and the child she is expecting
- When one who made a vow of arachin cannot afford to pay
Training a Minor
Although a minor is exempt from the obligation of fulfilling mitzvot, it is responsibility of his parents to train him in the performance of mitzvot so that he will be aware of what to do once he is a bar mitzvah.
Two examples of this responsibility of chinuch are tzitzit and tefillin.
In regard to tzitzit our Sages ruled that a minor who knows how to properly wrap himself in a tallit is obligated in the mitzvah of tzitzit. If the minor is capable of safeguarding the sanctity of tefillin (by avoiding entering the bathroom while wearing them), his father is obligated to purchase tefillin for him.
Why is the obligation to purchase mentioned only in regard to tefillin and not in regard to tzitzit?
Tosefot offers two answers to this question. One is that the father probably has a tallit already so that there is no need to purchase one. A second approach is that only in regard to something as expensive as tefillin does the term "purchase" apply and not to something so easy to acquire as a tallit.
- Arachin 2b
What the Sages Say
"A government is different than an individual in that it will not withdraw from its intention. As the Sage Shmuel put it, 'If the government intends to uproot a mountain it will carry out its plan’."
- The Sage Abaye - Arachin 6a
