Q&A: Punishment from the Age of Twenty
Punishment from the Age of Twenty
Question
To the honorable gaon, may he live long and well,
It is clear from the fact that the decree to die in the wilderness applied only from the age of twenty and up, and the Talmud says that the heavenly court does not punish except from the age of twenty, see there, and Rashi s.v. “deduct twenty.”
But this requires investigation in light of what is stated in Horayot 8a, that one brings a sin-offering for an inadvertent transgression only for something whose intentional violation incurs karet. Yet according to what is explained in the Talmud in Shabbat, that a minor under the age of twenty is not punished by Heaven and is not subject to karet, how does he bring a sin-offering? After all, a sin-offering is brought only for something whose intentional violation incurs karet.
With faithful regards,
One of the younger students
Answer
Bringing a sin-offering in a case where karet applies is not meant to exempt one from karet. After all, for an inadvertent transgression there is no liability of karet. Karet only defines for which transgressions a sin-offering is brought. Consequently, for these transgressions, even someone under twenty must bring a sin-offering, even though karet does not apply to him.