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Gaon heard this, he took it upon himself to learn Mishnayos for one his Creator not to have to descend again from the Upper
year in memory of this person, since a terrible thing happened be- World to the lowly world.
cause of him. But he did not compensate anyone for what happened. And when man sees that he must be reincarnated in
In Responsa Noda Biyehudah (first edition, Orach Chayim #34), this world, he begs to at least come around this time as
there is a question about an old man who asked a merchant for mer- poor and dejected or missing a hand so that he will not be
chandise which he planned to sell somewhere nearby. Despite his able to hit his fellowman. But his accuser (in Heaven) does
wife’s objections that he is weak and the roads are in disrepair and full not agree to his request and calls out that then the balance
of soldiers and armies, the old man convinced the merchant to give will not be equal. He wants the man to be rich, with two
him the merchandise. The old man was killed on the road. The mer- functioning hands, and only after many prayers and sup-
chant now wanted to know if he needed to repent and achieve atone- plications he may have the merit and his request will be
ment. The Noda Biyehudah answered that since he did not initiate the accepted…., and he will indeed be born handicapped.
trip, the death of the merchant does not require atonement. This case Some people mourn their bad luck in this world… or
is not comparable to the massacre of Nov Ir Hakohanim, for which their handicaps, completely forgetting the effort they put
Doeg Haedomi, King Shaul and his three sons were held responsible. into being created… with a defect, and unable to hit their
As it says, “How long will this sin [the killing of 400 priests in Nov] fellow. And this is the meaning of the verse “For the stat-
be hidden with you?” (maseches Sanhedrin 104.) Practically, the Noda utes of Hashem are true and they are righteous altogether.”
Biyehudah advised him to fast for three days [Monday, Thursday, and They are “altogether” only if one knows what happened to
Monday], and if he so desired, it would be a good thing to give some a person before his creation and how he insisted on being
gift to the departed man’s orphans, as this is considered a means of created this way.
atonement.
And so, in our case too, if the physician was negligent, it is possible What we have said until now is an answer to the question: Why is a
that compensation to the father of the child with Hunter syndrome baby born blemished? But we still have to explain why this particular
for his aggravation, anguish, and substantial medical expenses can mother was destined to have such a baby.
serve as an atonement for the sin of “Do not put a stumbling block The answer to that is found in Yalkut Shimoni (Shemos #398):
before a blind person.” “What can this be compared to? To a king who was owed 100 maneh

by a certain person. He sent a messenger to that person, telling him
1 SuMMaRy and Conclusions ‘Come and repay your debt to the king’. He refused. The king sent
another who told him: ‘come and repay your debt to the king’. Again,
1. There is no reason to obligate the physician who gave genetic he refused. What did the king do? He came at night and took a bag
advice to pay for damages, neither in a human court nor in a and put 100 maneh in it and threw it into the open window. When
Heavenly one. This is so even if the truth could have been clari- the man awoke and saw the bag, he was happy. Then the king sent
fied by more tests, which would have shown whether or not the another messenger who told the man: ‘come and repay your debt to
woman was carrying the gene for Hunter syndrome; especially the king’. He came and paid him what he owed him. The end result is
since Chazal dictate that a family is only established as a family that he paid off his debt and the king got back what belonged to him.
of epileptics or lepers when three or more cases have occurred, Likewise, if a man commits a sin, he is worthy of the death penalty,

48 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Erroneous genetic advice 2 37