Q&A: A Young Child Who Caused Damage
A Young Child Who Caused Damage
Question
If my son caused damage—
I seem to remember that according to Jewish law the father is exempt, but I’d be glad to hear the Rabbi’s view.
I’m asking mainly on the moral or normative plane.
In a case where “I was negligent in supervising him” (I didn’t watch him in the grocery store and he tasted a new and intriguing chocolate), it’s obvious that morally I’m obligated, and I won’t elaborate on the considerations.
What responsibility might there be in a case where I had no way to prevent the damage? On the face of it, it seems like “what does the father have to do with it,” but something about that doesn’t feel right. A child who goes around causing damage deliberately (though without much understanding) is, in effect, like a stray dog.
Is it just that it feels wrong, and as is well known, the Rabbi isn’t very expert in matters of feeling?
Answer
I’m tremendously expert in matters of feeling, and that is precisely why I don’t attach importance to them. 🙂 But intuitions—I do.
It may be that the intuition regarding a child is similar to the case of one’s property causing damage, where he must pay because it is his extension. I don’t think there is a moral obligation here to pay. A reason to do so? Maybe.