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Why is the bastard child punished for the parents' sins?

  

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Rabbi Shlomo Chein: Welcome. I'll be with you in a moment...what's on your mind?

GTM: In relation to a Mamzer [Ed. note: See What is the legal definition of a "mamzer"], why is the child punished for the parents sins?

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: that is a good question. The answer is the child is NOT punished! The child merely suffers a consequence. It is like asking why is a child "punished" for the foolishness of the mother smoking or taking drugs? Obviously the child is not "punished" rather it suffers the consequence of the action

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: so to with a Mamzer - the parents are punished! There are punishments for their action. The child is merely a consequence of their wrong deed

GTM: ooo thank you

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: sure

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COMMENTS

why is a child mamzer punished for their parents sin?

Posted by: Scheins, Brooklyn, NY on Aug 30, 2005

I dont think that your alagory is correct and i dont feel like you answered the question. if a child from a parent who takes drugs Chalila, is born. it is born with chalila a defect. where as a mamzer child is not born with a defect. it is not until the child is older and getting married that the child is punished with this "defect" only being allowed to marry another mamzer. and the child knows that he cant marry anyone else whereas the child born with a defect does not know any different.

Editor's Comment

The mamzer also has a defect -- a spiritual one. That is why he or she cannot intermarry with a "regular" Jew.

the mamzer

Posted by: B. on Jan 18, 2006

If the mother smokes while pregnant, logically the child should not have to bear the consequences. Or, in talmudic terms, if a man steals a seed and plants it, by all rights the seed should not grow, because it is stolen! But the world works along established ways, and those who abuse it will self destruct. G'd visits "wrath unto the 4th generation" not because He's mean, but because one who grows up with wicked parents is likely to be wicked oneself, and so on for about 4 generations until it fades out. Of course, you may just as well turn out to be a tzadik, which is even more credit to you.

RELATED CATEGORIES

Intimacy » Reproductive Issues
Life Cycle » Birth » Reproductive Issues
Mamzer
A child who is the product of incest or adultery (i.e. a married woman with a man other than her husband). A mamzer may only marry another mamzer.