וְאֶת־רוּחִ֖י אֶתֵּ֣ן בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם וְעָשִׂ֗יתִי אֵ֤ת אֲשֶׁר־בְּחֻקַּי֙ תֵּלֵ֔כוּ וּמִשְׁפָּטַ֥י תִּשְׁמְר֖וּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶֽם׃
Und ich werde meinen Geist in dich setzen und dich dazu bringen, in meinen Satzungen zu wandeln, und du wirst meine Verordnungen einhalten und sie tun.
Akeidat Yitzchak
It is logical that a person cannot impose on untold numbers of future generations, obligations that he himself had only assumed by a voluntary vow. Such a vow can obligate those descendants who agree to continue to honour it. Although, biologically speaking, the son is of the flesh and blood of the father, such bonds tend to grow weaker from generation to generation. When applying this comparison to the relationship between the personalities of parents and their children, not only are there dissimilarities already in the first generation, but within a few generations it will be impossible to trace such a personality likeness at all. Ezekiel makes it plain in chapter eighteen, that if parents eat unripe grapes, the children cannot be expected to suffer the consequences. Kohelet 4,8, is at pains to explain the uniqueness of each personality. If children cannot be held responsible for the sins of their progenitors, how could fathers impose their will on subsequent generations? Whenever our sages tell us that unborn generations were bound by the oath mentioned in our Parshah, they are careful to emphasize that the souls of those generations had in fact been present at the time the oath was pronounced, and they became committed due to their souls having been present. However, this concept requires clarification, since the obligation to perform mitzvot requires both body and soul. The Torah was given so that "Adam" should be able to live by it. "Adam" in this case is synonymous with "Man." (Leviticus 18,5) The term "Adam" is only applicable to a being possessed of both body and soul. Since halachah, Jewish law, teaches that obligations cannot be imposed upon anyone unless he is present and expresses his consent, and that even the conversion of a minor to Judaism under the auspices of a proper Bet Din, Jewish Court, has to be reconfirmed upon that minor attaining the age of thirteen, (Ketuvot 18) how much more would the consent of someone be required that had not even been born at the time the obligation had been imposed upon him? The Talmud in Berachot 58, rules that when one finds oneself in the presence of six hundred thousand people, one needs to recite a benediction. The reason seems to be that when in the presence of such a large gathering, all possible permutations of both body and mind must be present, so that one has viewed all mankind, so to speak. If this is so, then the two occasions when the Jewish people accepted G'ds covenant made it impossible for a Jew of a subsequent generation to argue that his exact counterpart had not already accepted that very same covenant he was now being asked to live up to. The problem with this kind of reasoning need not be elaborated. Another difficulty surrounding our subject is verse thirty five in Jeremiah chapter thirty one. "If these ordinances ( sun as a source of light by day, moon and stars as sources of light at night) depart from before Me, says the Lord, then the offspring of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me, forever." The reading of that chapter suggests that only a complete suspension of all the laws of nature could sever the bond that exists between Israel and its G'd.