Parents must raise their children and see to all their needs, a task that is at times far from easy.

It is written: “To the woman He said: I will increase your suffering and your pregnancy; in pain you shall give birth to children” (Genesis 3:16)…“your suffering”; this is a reference to the pain of raising children.

A father is obligated with regard to his son to circumcise him, to redeem him, to teach him Torah, to marry him to a woman, and to teach him a trade. Some say: To teach him to swim, as well. Rabbi Yehuda says: Any father who does not teach his son a trade effectively teaches him banditry. (Eiruvin 100b; Kiddushin 29a)