(By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times)

It was a question that was posed by the prisoners. A man had murdered his father. In the prison where he is incarcerated, there is a daily minyan. The man is reciting the Kaddish – for the father that he had murdered.

The dilemma? The prisoners are so disgusted by this man’s actions that they do not wish to say Amain to the kaddish. The question was posed to Rav Elyashiv zatzal (See Mishnas Ish Siman 331). What is the halacha?

THE MOLECH

There is a fascinating drasha regarding the horrific worship of the Molech. The verse tells us, Ish ki yiten mizaro l’molech – if a man gives of his children to the Molech. Chazal darshan (Sanhedrin 64b) mizaro velo kol zaro – of his children but not all his children.  Therefore, a person who gives all of his children to the Molech is exempt from the punishment enumerated in the Torah.

The explanation provided by the Daas Zkainim MiBaalei HaTosfos is that a person who offers some of his children to the Molech is most certainly evil – but we still want him to have a kaparah. But someone who offers all of his children to the Molech is so evil and vile that we do not even want him to have an atonement.

THE MEGADEF

By the same token in the end of Parshas Emor, there was question as to whether there was a punishment was for the megadef – the person that cursed Hashem. Rashi points out that the person that gathered sticks on Shabbos was discovered and placed in holding at the same time that the person had cursed hashem. Yet they did not jail them together.  Why didn’t they go in the same cell? Rashi explains that the punishment for the gatherer of sticks was known to be the death penalty – they just did not know which particular one.  On the other hand, it was not known whether or not the one who cursed Hashem would be punished at all.  This is why they were not placed in the same cell.

The Daas Zkainim MiBaalei haTosfos asks why they did not draw a fortiori argument from one who curses his father and mother. The Daas Zkainim answer that they had the same reasoning – perhaps this person is so vile that he does not deserve atonement.

RAV ELYASHIV’S ANSWER

Rav Elyashiv answered that the prisoners should, in fact, answer Amain to the murderer’s Kaddish. He too requires an atonement for what he did. The recitation of Kaddish is a Mitzvah that helps in the atoning process.

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