Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the process by which we determine compensation for a debilitating injury inflicted upon a child. The Talmudic jurisprudential method for evaluating disabling loss and damages to a person is by considering the value of this person if he was sold as a slave, what was his prior market value versus his current value with his disability. Since such an appraisal is demeaning, the Gemara records an incident where the father of the child objected to submitting his child through this process. (In a culture that relies on testimony to establish lineage, it was a legitimate concern that years later an inaccurate recollection could lead to mistaken allegations about the child having been a slave.) The judges countered with an objection that this father's fears of propriety and status would deprive his son of the financial compensation that he deserved from the damager since no assessment would be made. The father's response was to reassure the court that when his child matures, he would make sure to personally provide his son with the deserved compensation.

This Gemara brings to mind the challenges parents face when deciding what kinds of help to seek for a disabled child. If a child has a mild disability, mental or physical, the parents may be reluctant to seek clinical treatments that could stigmatize the child, or even the extended family. When the danger or disability is so strong or obvious, it is less of a challenge, because the urgencies overcome the resistance. However, some scenarios are more murky when the condition is on the border between severe to moderate. Should a child with moderate to severe depression be treated inpatient? Should a child with moderate learning disabilities stay in a mainstream school, or in a more supportive environment? There are no easy answers, but our Gemara reminds us that a parent’s fears about stigma does not reduce the obligation to make sure the child receives his due. The judges only accepted the father’s objection because of his pledge to take responsibility for his disabled child’s compensation due to him upon maturity. We also must consider that in the Gemara’s case, this child could receive the compensation later on in life. However, regarding certain developmental aspects of human growth, such as academic and social functioning, opportunities and windows close for a child, and are much harder to restore later on in life. 

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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