The sages have long been troubled by the idea expressed in scripture that children can sometimes be punished for the sins of their parents and even their grandparents. Horowitz agrees with the sages that sins are not passed on; they are only carried on, and then, only for three generations. Here he acknowledges Abraham’s lack of faith as a cause for Israel’s subjugation, but he also suggests that each generation has the power to choose whether it will remain subjugated or not. We, our children, our children’s children would be subjugated- What is the significance of mentioning that three generations would have been subjugated? The answer can be found in connection with the following verse, “Adonai, Adonai, a compassionate and gracious God…He visits the iniquity of the parents on children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generation.⁷” Why should children be punished for the sins of their parents? Rashi and the Talmud write: God visits the sins upon the children when they retain the deeds of their parents (when children continue to sin in the fashion of their parents). But what is the significance of saying “third and fourth generation?” Only three generations can carry on the sins of the parents since children are aware of and connected to their parents and grandparents, but by the fourth generation there is no longer a connection to the original sin (or sinner). The fourth generation, then, represents those who commit the sin of their own accord. And such a sin extends of its own accord three generations. The exile to Egypt began because of a lack of faith in God. Abraham said, “O Lord, How shall I know that I shall possess (the land)?⁸” By the time the Jews were in Egypt it was more than three generations and they still lacked faith in God’s redemption. They faced three generations of punishment for their own lack of faith rather than Abraham’s lack of faith in God’s promise. That is why the Haggadah tells us that if God had not taken us out of Egypt we would have faced three more generations in Egypt (we, our children and our children’s children) because of our lack of faith in God. The subjugation to Pharaoh resulted from this lack of faith.

footnotes: ⁷ Exodus 34:6-7 ⁸ Genesis 15:8 This passage precedes the prediction that the descendents of Abraham shall be strangers in a strange land and that they shall be enslaved in Egypt.