For the source text click/tap here: Bava Batra 131
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Steinsaltz opines: "Strange as this may sound, there does not seem to be a clear source in the Torah obligating a father to support his children, although it is certainly a mitzva for him to do so. In fact, the Mishna in Ketubot (52b) that is quoted in our Gemara teaches that if an agreement to support the children was not clearly written into the ketuba nevertheless the husband’s estate will be forced to support them after his death, because it is a tenai beit din – it is a required condition of marriage."
Rava inquired: Did Rabbi Yochanan ben Berokah state his halachah (that the Torah gave authority to a father to bequeath his estate to a particular son) by a healthy person as well?
The Gemora explains: Is it only regarding a deathly ill person, who is fit to bequeath immediately (for it is written: It shall be on the day that he bequeaths to his sons), that a father has that right, but not by a healthy person, or perhaps, it was stated even with regards to a healthy person?
We examine the laws of schechiv mera, a terminally ill person and the halachic gratuities allowed for in bequest.