I believe the Gemara on today's daf holds that we are permitted to "collect" interest from our children to teach them about the hardships of life. Is this an accurate understanding of halacha lmasei? Are there any other Mitzvos d'araisa that we are exempt from observing when dealing with our children? How about Lefnai evar - not putting a stumbling block - are we allowed to literally trip our children up to teach them life lessons. Many other examples come to mind.
If it is allowed for Ribis, why not allow it for other things as well.
I would appreciate your thoughts.
m.f., passaic, new jersey USA
No. The Shulchan Aruch Paskens that one is not allowed to lend his children money with Ribis, unlike our Gemara (and the Rambam).
However, there are a few Mitzvos Bein Adam l'Chaveiro that a person is allowed to seemingly transgress in order to teach his child or student a lesson. This is usually because there is no real bad intention on the part of the person teaching the lesson, which is the real reason that this behavior is forbidden. For example, the Sefer l'Reia'cha Kamocha (vol. 1, pg. 317) quotes many sources which state that a person can act vengefully or appear to bear a grudge toward his son in order to teach him not to take revenge and bear grudges.
In truth, this leniency could apply to anyone. However, a person is unlikely to have pure intentions towards many other people besides his son (a Rebbi should be sure this is the case as well before using this leniency). Additionally, even a parent should ensure that this will be an effective measure before choosing to use this leniency.
All the best,
Yaakov Montrose