Yitro Answers

Yitro 5730
Alef.

1. “מסורגים” means “interrupted”. The question in the Mechilta is whether the four generations of evil doers, at the end of which, God “Runs out of patience” and finally Gives punishment, have to be uninterrupted, one after the other, or might they skip generations.

2.  If the next generation is righteous, then it will not have to bear the iniquities of the previous generation(s). However, if not, then the punishment at the end of the series might be cumulative.

3.  The antecedent of “לשנאי” in Shemot 20:5--

     Mechilta:  Tana Kamma the first generation, regardless of which sin is involved.

R. Natan—MaLBI”M interprets that “Kotzetz” is short for “Kotzetz BeNetiot”, the approbation applied to Elisha ben Avuya when he lost his faith (see Chagiga 14b; 15a), and therefore we are specifically referring only to Avoda Zora.

Mechilta D’RaShBI:  The paradigm is Yehu ben Nimshi. II Melachim 10:18 quotes him as saying that he intends to engage in idolatry to a greater extent than Achav, whose family he killed. Consequently, this source seems to support R. Natan, quoted in the Mechila above.

Gemora:    The focus is upon the offspring. The one’s that hate, as it were, HaShem are the descendants , who either continue the ancestor’s hateful behavior or discontinue it.

      Midrash Rabba:¹ Like the Gemora, the focus is upon the descendants.  Offspring are punished only if they do not turn out to be Tzaddikim, regardless of what sort of person their ancestors were.

4. שמות פרק כ

(ד) לא תשתחוה להם ולא תעבדם כי אנכי יקוק אלקיך קל קנא פקד עון אבת על בנים על שלשים ועל רבעים לשנאי:

שמות פרק לד

(ז) נצר חסד לאלפים נשא עון ופשע וחטאה ונקה לא ינקה פקד עון אבות על בנים ועל בני בנים על שלשים ועל רבעים:

From the context of Shemot 34, where forgiveness in the first half of the verse is being contrasted with punishment in the second half, it would appear that the focus is upon the original sinner, i.e., the ancestor.

5.  It would seem that according to Tanna Kamma, HaShem will Remember the sins leading eventually to the punishment of the evil doers down through the generations, just as He eventually remembered His Promise to Avraham that he would have a child with Sara, as well as the Promise to the Jewish People that He would eventually redeem them from Egypt.

   R. Yehuda appears to emphasize not that HaShem will Remember and eventually punish, but rather that He is Prepared to Suppress the punishment for four generations if there will be some discontinuity regarding how evil each of the subsequent generations are.

Beit.

RaLBaG and ShaDaL assume that even if the offspring are not repeating the sins of the parents, they nevertheless are often affected by what their ancestors perpetrated. Whereas the previous positions assumed that the children followed in the footsteps of those preceding them, these two commentators suggest that in order to create a deterrent against improper behavior, the parents are threatened not only with punishments that will affect them directly, but will have long-lasting consequences for their offspring.

Gimel.

1.  Reggio assumes that the children do merit being punished since they themselves sin in addition to their ancestors.

2.  The phrase “עוון אבות” influenced RaLBaG to conclude that we are not dealing with the offspring sinning at all, and they simply suffer the offshoots of the punishments that their parents earned. Reggio assumes that the phrase refers to the fact that the children learned this negative behavior from their forbearers, but they would only be punished if they continued said behavior themselves.

3.  In the Alon HaDeracha Reggio spells out his understanding of these phrases that depend upon the construct syntax:

דברים פרק לב

(לב) כי מגפן סדם גפנם ומשדמת עמרה ענבמו ענבי רוש אשכלת מררת למו:

                  Not a vineyard literally from Sodom, but rather similar to those that grew there.

יחזקאל פרק כג

(כ) ותעגבה על פלגשיהם אשר בשר חמורים בשרם וזרמת סוסים זרמתם:

                        Not flesh that literally comes from donkeys, but rather similar to it.

תהלים פרק לו

(ז) צדקתך כהררי קל משפטך תהום רבה אדם ובהמה תושיע יקוק:

“Thy righteousness is like the mighty mountains; Thy judgments are like the great deep; man and beast Thou preservest, O LORD. “

Not that the mountains are God’s Mountains, but rather they are similar to what the Psalmist imagines God’s Mountains to be like. 

Consequently, with respect to “עוון אבות” it does not mean the actual sins of the fathers, but rather sins similar to those that the fathers perpetrated, but this time carried out by the offspring.