Just returned from the monthly shiur of R. Zilberstein. Part of the shiur<br>was halachot connected with Down's syndrome. He paskened that if<br>they understand things on the level of a 6-7 year they are chayav in<br>
mitzvot and can be motzeh pthers. He brought a case of a widow who<br>wanted her Down's syndrome son to say kiddush and havdalah for her.<br>R. Zilberstein asked the boy when one eats blintzes, eats matzah, takes<br>a lulav etc and the boy knew. He was especially impressed when he asked
<br>when one blows shofar and the boy answered " from Rosh Chodesh Elul<br>of course". On that basis he paskened the boy could be motzih his<br>mother on all mitzvot. <br>The main questions involved marriage and he paskened that such a boy could
<br>marry a similar woman and have children.<br><br>In the end he brought a story of a Down Syndrome's boy who learns in<br>Ponovezh (he is the grandson of the masgiach). If anyone has a question<br>of where a pasuk appears in Tanakh they come to him with the question!
<br>The main thrust of the shiur was the insistence that every Jew has the<br>same tzelem Elokim independent of their intellectual capacity (the shiur<br>started with a discussion of the medical treatment of Alzheimer's patients)
<br><br>kol tuv<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Eli Turkel