Musar for Bava Batra 316:4

וזכרתי את בריתי יעקב . Whereas this verse (26,42) is one of the verses comforting us, why does the Torah continue with verses which indicate that the תוכחה is not yet at an end? I have heard that this verse (42) is also still part of the admonition/curse. The Torah distinguishes between wicked people who are the children of wicked parents and those who did not see such wicked examples before them when they grew up. The latter kind of רשע deserves to be punished much more harshly than a person who has never seen a model of good conduct before him. Similarly, if one has been raised in an environment which was hostile to Torah and religion one is not nearly as guilty for not following the dictates of the Torah as one is if one had the good fortune to be raised in a community of Torah observant Jews. G–d is on record that He will remember that we had the advantages of having the patriarchs as our models before our eyes, as well as the advantage of having been given ארץ ישראל the holy land; in spite of these advantages we breached the holy covenant with G–d. The Torah therefore exhorts us to consider our additional guilt in this context.

The Torah's greatest command is to see to it that its teachings expand to as many Jews as possible, certainly including one's own children, in order to perpetuate the chain of Torah knowledge in one's family. The latter is clearly stated in Deut. 11,19 and numerous other places. It is this the sages had in mind when they said (Rashi Genesis 6,9) that the principal descendants of the righteous are their good deeds. This means that it is the fondest hope of the righteous that they become fruitful and multiply in order that their children may perform good deeds such as the study of Torah for its own sake and all that results therefrom. Concerning such an attitude Solomon has said in Kohelet 12,11: "The words of the scholars are like goads and like well driven nails i.e. נטועים." Our sages understand the word נטועים here as referring to offspring. Just as a plant is called permanent when securely planted, so one's children assure one of a degree of permanence and continuity on earth by their very existence. Words of Torah have a similar characteristic. They are fruitful and multiply like an unending fountain whose waters never cease The important thing is that preoccupation with Torah should not become a sterile intellectual exercise but something dynamic, creative. This is the reason that the Rabbis said that when one teaches one's neighbor's child Torah it is as if one had begotten him, i.e. performed a dynamic life-giving act. The same applies in even greater degree to when one teaches Torah to one's own children. The earth was given to man on condition that he live according to these principles, and the atmosphere of the land of Israel is particularly suited to further Torah study. We find an allusion to this in the positioning of the verse (11,19) instructing us to teach our children Torah immediately before the verse: "so that you will enjoy long years on the land the Lord your G–d has sworn to your forefathers to give to them, etc." (11,21). This is why this dimension is mentioned in the above quoted prayer והערב נא which we recite every morning immediately following the benediction לעסוק בדברי תורה. Our sages have formulated this prayer/blessing to include both our own offspring, וצאצאינו, as well as that of others, i.e. וצאצאי עמך בית ישראל. Anyone failing to recite this benediction may find that his children themselves will not develop to be Torah scholars. If such failure occurs on a broad basis even the atmosphere of the land of Israel, which is so suited to the spread of Torah knowledge, will become "lost," i.e. it will no longer be a built-in assist to the spread of Torah. The land's characteristic is closely bound up with the scholars residing in it practicing the virtues associated with their Torah knowledge.