"The classes are great and we enjoy them but the classes are limited by time. There are some great questions that come up that are often off topic and due to time restraints cannot be dealt with in depth. What we need is a blog where we can ask questions and develop thoughts and ideas further than we could in the classroom format."
He assured me that you guys would be interested in the blog and that we would gain so much by having this open forum for Q and A and related discussion.
So I invite you to "AFTER HOURS", where all the good stuff that we couldn't deal with fully or even partially in class can be laid out in all it's glory without restraints of time, place or topic. Please take a seat, feel at home, take a glass of wine in your hand and relax. Please be open and speak freely."AFTER HOURS" is dedicated to the loving memory and continuing legacy of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg and all the other victims of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, Nov/Dec 2008 (May Hashem bless their families and avenge their blood.)
In Exudos 20:5, God says: "...inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation;". The way I interpret this is that God is punishing people for the sins of others. To me this seems unjust, and it is hard for me to believe that God loved those children that he punished. How else can I interpret this?
ReplyDelete-Matt
First of all let me welcome you to the blog and congratulate you for being the first contributor.
ReplyDelete"the way I interpret this is that God is punishing people for the sins of others. To me this seems unjust,"
I agree with you Matt. For G-d to punish an individual for the sins of others would be an injustice.
The Sages of the Talmud ask your very question and this concept has been dealt with extensively by the major commentators of the Torah, so you are in good company.
Let me share with you their wise words.
Look up Deuteronomy 24:16. The meaning couldn't be clearer! an individual is accountable for his own deeds and nobody else's. If so, what then is the meaning of our verse in Exodus?
We arrive at an answer through a comparison with one other verse in Leviticus 26:39.
".....And because the iniquities of there forefathers are with them as well, they will disintegrate".
When studying the Torah one must pay attention to each word and even each letter of the Hebrew original. The operative words here are "with them". Our sages interpret this to mean that the offspring approve of the ways of their fathers and perpetuate them. We can offer the same explanation here in the Exodus text. If the next generations continue in the path set by their fathers knowing that it is evil then they have ratified the deeds and adopted them as their own. Hence the punishment is for their own sins and not those of others.
It's worth noting that History shows that when sins are repeated over the course of generations, they become legitimized and acceptable in society as a "culture" or "lifestyle". So the children who continue in the immoral paths of their parents are in a sense more culpable than their parents as they have not only sinned themselves but they have caused others to sin and brought society into a state of degradation.
Obviously, those brought up without these sensitivities and don't know any better are not included in the category of the verse.
Finally, even those deserving of punishment only receive it up to the 4th generation. But those who "Love and observe his commandments" as the next verse continues, G-d shows kindness for thousands of generations. That is at least 2000 generations. So if you do the math, the reward for good deeds is 500 times greater than the punishment for sin.
Hope this helps explain.