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Jun 26, 2025
Interesting Psak: Special Needs status
Generally speaking, probably with exception, children who have been diagnosed and categorized as "special needs" children have been considered, again generally speaking, exempt from mitzvot under the category of being a "shoteh".
Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein, rav of Ramat Elchonon neighborhood of Bnei Braq, is upending that categorization with an interesting psak he issued while talking with the head of Petachya about what gives a person the status of shoteh in halacha.
Rav Zilbershtein paskened that not always is a child who was determined to be "special needs" by the kupat cholim or by the people on the street (whatever that means) also in the category of shoteh. There are special needs children who function at a higher level and have some level of understanding and wisdom. Such children, despite their limitations in some areas would not be considered a shoteh and would be obligated in commandments like anybody else.
Rav Zilbershtein said that the modern world, affected by influences from England, Romania and Hungary, are at times mistaken in their evaluation of such children. The halachic criteria for this is not a medical condition but their level of understanding and it requires a deep inspection of the child's capabilities.
Rav Zilbershtein referred to a case brought before him. A father wanted to know if his special needs 13 year old son is obligated in mitzvos. Rav Zilbershtein performed a simple examination of the child to determine that. he asked the child if he knows when the shofar is blown. The child knew it is on Rosh Hashana and talked about what else is done on Rosh Hashana. Rav Zilbershtein also asked about going to the store to buy something and getting change, and the child understood the concepts.
Rav Zilbershtein said that according to the Torah a child that understands such basic concepts is considered a mentally capable adult. Anyone making a determination based on any other criteria is the one who is misguided one, not the children..
Rav Zilbershtein says Rav Elyashiv approved this method of evaluating the child. Only Torah-based evaluations can determine the status of a child, not secular or medical criteria alone.
If someone has a question about whether his child is a shoteh or not should speak with his rav for an evaluation or with a gadol byisrael..
source: Kikar
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The Nishmat Avraham deals with this in medical halakha. Once upon a time, deaf children were written off as mentally incompetent. Now we know they have normal intelligence and with proper teaching and hearing aids they function fine. So are they still shotim? Of course not.
ReplyDeleteHalachic Shoteh could be different than medical shoteh. Sometimes the category is needed for insurance reimbursement. Doesn't mean the person is totally incapable of minimal day to day responsibilities. Hey isn't every 13 year old considered a chiyuv in mitzvos yet there are MANY things I wouldn't trust to a 13 year old kid to do. There's a large range from "normal' to totally "gone".
ReplyDeleteI'm sure like most shuls, look around on Shabbos how many nut cases daven regularly there. And are included for minyan even for aliyos! 😄
agreed. people also get their kids evaluated to qualify with different status that allows them different types of assistance in school and with tests, adjusting tax brackets, to qualify for medical assistance and disability allowances, etc. I find it hard to believe that any title special needs was being considered a shoteh by some rabbonim without more specific evaluation.
DeleteThis psak is already the baseline in the US. No one here considers someone with, say, downs syndrome to be a shoteh according to Halacha (of course there may be halachos that someone may not be mentally capable of fulfilling, and he would be an oness with regard to those halachos, but that doesn’t make him a shoteh who is exempt from all mitzvos)
ReplyDeleteA halachic shoteh is someone who is insane, not someone with a low IQ. A quick Google search leads to a citation to yoreh deah 1:5, where a shotah is defined as someone who "walks alone at night, tears his clothing, sleeps in cemeteries, or destroys whatever people give him" — all pointing to insanity, not low intelligence.
It’s surprising to me that this is a chiddush in Israel.