rosends
Well-Known Member
I haven't really worked through this so maybe there's an obvious answer but anyway...
Being exiled, that is, living in galus is a punishment. We were punished with a loss of homeland and a loss of autonomy. Prophecies to this negative eventuality were made; this is clearly a punishment.
But we teach that man suffers because of his own sin, and the only time we would say that a punishment is visited on children is if the children continue in the sinful path of the parents.
Some info
Children Punished for Sins of Parents - aish.com
Punishing Children for the Sins of their Parents - TheTorah.com
How then, can it be that babies are born in galus? At the moment of birth, the infant has done nothing to affirm the sinfulness of his or her parents, but automatically, the baby is undergoing a punishment, that is, living in exile.
The fact that we are all born with a yetzer hara (as a result of Adam and Chava's eating the fruit) is a consequence of their action -- a change in the nature of mankind. But living in exile is not about a change in people. How can we allow babies to be punished?
(all the moreso, by the way, people who grow up and reach bar mitzvah and haven't committed the sins that mandated exile in the first place)
Being exiled, that is, living in galus is a punishment. We were punished with a loss of homeland and a loss of autonomy. Prophecies to this negative eventuality were made; this is clearly a punishment.
But we teach that man suffers because of his own sin, and the only time we would say that a punishment is visited on children is if the children continue in the sinful path of the parents.
Some info
Children Punished for Sins of Parents - aish.com
Punishing Children for the Sins of their Parents - TheTorah.com
How then, can it be that babies are born in galus? At the moment of birth, the infant has done nothing to affirm the sinfulness of his or her parents, but automatically, the baby is undergoing a punishment, that is, living in exile.
The fact that we are all born with a yetzer hara (as a result of Adam and Chava's eating the fruit) is a consequence of their action -- a change in the nature of mankind. But living in exile is not about a change in people. How can we allow babies to be punished?
(all the moreso, by the way, people who grow up and reach bar mitzvah and haven't committed the sins that mandated exile in the first place)