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<p>In Avodah Digest V26#41, RSG apparently replied to something I wrote:<br>
> It has been acknowledged that the Bircat Habanim is a Minhag... but may not apply to children who already have their own households.??? <<br>
That was my suggestion. (Again, please see Avodah v8 [Oct2001] for the previous discussion -- one way to locate it is the Avodah "B" index: look for "Bir... Haban..." subjects.)<br>
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> At all the?Erev Shabbat meals that I have attended as a guest I have seen the Baal Habayit bless their children regardless?of age or marital status.?? Since this is a Minhag, I would be interested in the experience and action of other people on this list.?? I bless my daughter after which she blesses her three year old son.?? To me this is a true representation of Mesorah (though only Minhag) and?the embodiment of our people's timelessness, as hopefully my daughter will bless her eventual grown son and he will then?turn around and bless his children.?? <<br>
My mother shetichyeh still blesses me whenever she has the opportunity, and I enjoy receiving a b'rachah from my father-in-law (whom I call "Dad" and whom I think of that way, esp. as my father a'h' passed away a few days before I officially became his son-in-law). I'm not chalilah denying the benefits, emotional power, etc. of such a custom. <br>
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> Finally, do we have? a source as to how old Ephratm and Menashe were at the time of their blessings from Yaakov and?if they had families at that time? <<br>
Last, and not least, I would not compare a deathbed-b'rachah situation to our discussion. <br>
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All the best from<br>
--Michael Poppers via RIM pager</body></html>