Episode 6: Honoring Parents Across Differences

SHOW NOTES

In this episode of Rebbi, I Have a Question, Rabbi Yitzchak Shurin addresses one of the most sensitive and complex mitzvot in the Torah: Kibud Av V’Eim, honoring our parents, when life circumstances make it complicated.

Many students and alumni are navigating relationships with parents who live far away, don’t share their religious choices, or are aging and increasingly dependent. Others are raising children and struggling with how to speak honestly and respectfully about grandparents who live very different lives.

This conversation explores how Torah guides us through these realities with integrity, balance, and clarity.

EPISODE QUESTIONS

• Should honoring one’s parents be a factor when deciding whether to make Aliyah?

• How can someone properly fulfill Kibud Av V’Eim when living far from their parents?

• What are our obligations to parents as they age, especially when values and life choices differ?

• How should we speak to our children about grandparents who are not observant or practice a different religion?

ABOUT THE PODCAST

Rebbi, I Have a Question is a podcast from Shapell’s and Midreshet Rachel v’Chaya. Host Dana Margolis brings real questions from students and alumni to Rabbi Yitzchak Shurin, who draws on Torah wisdom, decades of experience, and the teachings of his grandfather, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l, to address the challenges of modern Jewish life.

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