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The hagada helps us to fulfill the commandment to "tell your son" (Ex 13:8).

But it is impossible for a father to tell his son without the son being present.

So, is there a mitzva for a son to be present at his father's seder?

Is this discussed in the sources?

Yehuda W
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  • Telling your son doesn’t necessarily mean literally your son. If the son isn’t present, the father should tell one of his other relatives, or himself if he’s making his Seder alone. – DonielF Aug 14 '17 at 13:01
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    @DonielF. Yes, a person can satisfy the mitzva by telling the story to another person, or even to himself if no one else is present. But that seems to me to be a substitute for the actual Torah commandment. My question asks if a son has an obligation to enable his father to satisfy the mizzva in the way stated in the Torah. – Yehuda W Aug 14 '17 at 13:30
  • the mitzvah for the son to be present might only be if the faster askes him to be, kibud Av. sheifer hahinuch mitzvah 10 brings this Gemara https://www.sefaria.org/Pesachim.116a.8 and says ask @DonielF commented the word "son" is not literally your son https://www.sefaria.org/Sefer_HaChinukh.21 – hazoriz Aug 14 '17 at 15:12
  • @hazoriz Do note that the son would only be obligated in that case if the father pays for his airline ticket. Kibbud Av is out of the father’s pocket (Kiddushin 31a). – DonielF Aug 14 '17 at 15:27
  • @DonielF obviously (but was there not a story that a Rov told the son the yes the father would need to pay , but if he will not you whould be obligated to walk (so if it is not over seas the son whould need to walk)) – hazoriz Aug 14 '17 at 15:31
  • @hazoriz Yes. Forgot about that story. The version I heard involved getting the father to pay for the train ticket, and if he refused to do so the son better start walking. – DonielF Aug 14 '17 at 15:38
  • This was actually discussed at the Shabbos Hagadol Drasha that I attended last year. In an extremely brief nutshell, the Rav was Mechadesh (based on different sources) that there is no obligation for the son to make his way over to the father (outside of standard Kibud Av obligations), and the parameters of "Vehigadta Levincha" change based on what the circumstances are at the moment that the Seder is occurring. – Salmononius2 Aug 14 '17 at 16:18
  • Interesting question. I'm going to wait a while for an answer. I recall a "reverse" question discussed by a local rav who stated that these days, even with the children at the parents' Seder, the problem these days is that the kids are teaching the parents! – DanF Aug 14 '17 at 16:42

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