Can children play sports such as Soccer on Shabbat?
The Shulkhan Arukh (Orach Chaiim 343) provides a general guideline for raising children in an obervant home: As soon as a child is educable, the parents should teach the child about observance. Thus, even a three-year old (who, as a halakhic minor is not obligated to observe Shabbat) should be taught the relevant rudiments of Shabbat observance. This does not mean that the parent must take away a rattle or battery-powered toy, but it does mean that, on Shabbat, the child should be encouraged to play Shabbat-appropriate games. The R’ma and the Mishna Brurah (loc. cit.) point out that, by the time a child understands what Shabbat is (e.g., certainly by age 8), the child should be avoiding blatant Shabbat violation. The Shulkan Arukh’s standard thus does not see the age of majority (13 for boys, 12 for girls) as a threshold for observance, and does not permit Shabbat violation by “educable” children (i.e., children above the age of 8 or so). In addition to the standard 39 classes of activ
The Shulkhan Arukh (Orach Chaiim 343) provides a general guideline for raising children in an obervant home: As soon as a child is educable, the parents should teach the child about observance. Thus, even a three-year old (who, as a halakhic minor is not obligated to observe Shabbat) should be taught the relevant rudiments of Shabbat observance. This does not mean that the parent must take away a rattle or battery-powered toy, but it does mean that, on Shabbat, the child should be encouraged to play Shabbat-appropriate games. The R’ma and the Mishna Brurah (loc. cit.) point out that, by the time a child understands what Shabbat is (e.g., certainly by age 8), the child should be avoiding blatant Shabbat violation. The Shulkan Arukh’s standard thus does not see the age of majority (13 for boys, 12 for girls) as a threshold for observance, and does not permit Shabbat violation by “educable” children (i.e., children above the age of 8 or so). In addition to the standard 39 classes of activ
