{"id":49644,"date":"2019-02-18T09:30:29","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T07:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=49644"},"modified":"2022-09-11T15:23:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-11T12:23:04","slug":"children-as-guarantors-then-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/children-as-guarantors-then-and-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Children As Guarantors \u2013 Then And Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At the beginning of our chapter we are told that: <\/span><\/p>\n

Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the laws and rules that I proclaim to you this day! Study them and observe them faithfully! The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our fathers that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, the living, every one of us who is here today\u201d (Deuteronomy 5:1-3). <\/span><\/p>\n

If God did not make a covenant with our forefathers at Horeb (Mount Sinai), then with whom did God make His covenant? The Midrash (Midrash Tehillim 8:3 and parallels) addresses this question by describing the situation as a dramatic dialogue between God and the Israelites about to receive the Torah: At Sinai, all the assembled Israelites became responsible guarantors for one another (<\/span>kol yisrael areyvim zeh la-zeh<\/span><\/em>, see Sifra\u2019 Behuqotai 7:5). When God was about to give the Torah to them, He required them to provide guarantors that they would fulfill the commandments in the Torah. The People of Israel first offered their forefathers. But God said: They are already obligated to Me and it waits to be seen if they themselves will fulfill their own commitments. Rather bring me guarantors, who as yet have no outstanding obligation to me. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Israelites responded: Who could possibly be free of any obligation to you?! God answered: The children! Immediately, the Israelites brought the infants from the breasts of their mothers. They even brought their pregnant wives, whose wombs became like glass so that the unborn fetuses could see the Holy One, blessed be He and speak with Him. <\/span><\/p>\n

God said to them: You are to be the responsible guarantors for the obedience of your parents. If they do not fulfill the commandments of the Torah, you will be liable for their transgressions. Without hesitation, the unborn babies assented to each of the Ten Commandments. God then said: From your mouths I will now give the Torah to your parents, as it says: \u201cOut of the mouth of babes and sucklings, You have established strength (\u2018Oz)\u201d (Psalms 8:3). And the word \u2018Oz refers to Torah, as it says: \u201cThe Lord will give strength (\u2018Oz) to His people\u201d (Psalms 29:11). <\/span><\/p>\n

For this reason, when the Israelites transgress the Torah, it is their children who are apprehended, as it says: \u201cBecause you have forgotten the Torah of your God, I will forget your children, I too\u201d (Hosea 4:6). What does \u201cI too\u201d here imply? It means: To this very day, God Himself is saddened when Jewish parents and their children absent themselves from keeping the commandments of the Torah.<\/span><\/p>\n

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