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Section IX. Chapter Six: Children.
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Others were devoted to seeking children, and said: in this there is a stirring of the soul, a cooling of the eye, joy and happiness; and were it not for children there would be no people and the world would not endure.
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Children are a person's reserve for old age; they mention him well after his death; tenderness and mercy flow only toward them, and piety and honor come only from them.
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It is enough that every great prophet sought them — as you see Abraham saying: 'You have given me no offspring' (Gen. 15:3); the Torah says: 'Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren' (Gen. 25:21); and Rachel said: 'Give me children or I shall die' (Gen. 30:1).
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And a father may teach them God's Torah, law, and wisdom and earn reward through them — as it says: 'A father to his children will make known your faithfulness' (Isa. 38:19).
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I examined what they said and found it right regarding children whom the Creator provides to serve Him as He wills. Where they err is in their requiring that one dedicate himself to this pursuit alone, to the exclusion of everything else.
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I say: what benefit are children when there is no food, clothing, and shelter for them? And what good is raising them if there is no wisdom and knowledge?
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And their tenderness and concern, in the absence of these things, only increases the parents' pain. As for piety and honor from them — nothing of these can be hoped for if the prior conditions are absent.
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And the torment of pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and postpartum — and the ailments accompanying them — come with children, as it says: 'In pain you shall bear children' (Gen. 3:16).
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And she may die at the time of birth, turning joy into grief — as it says: 'As her soul was departing, for she was dying, she named him Ben-oni' (Gen. 35:18).
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And the father's exhaustion, misery, and risk-taking come only to feed his family and young — as it says: 'His young cry out for blood; where the slain are, there it is' (Job 39:30).
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And the difficulty of raising them, managing illness, preparing medications — whether barley or oxymel — come mostly with children.
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And how much more when matters end in death and bereavement — that is wailing and lamentation — as it says: 'Though they raise their children, I will bereave them of every one; woe to them indeed when I depart from them' (Hos. 9:12).
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If they live, fear of what may happen with the sons keeps eyes awake — as it says: 'He who robs his father and drives away his mother is a son who causes shame and dishonor' (Prov. 19:26).
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And dread of what may befall the daughters inflames the eyes — as Ben Sira says: 'A daughter to a father is a hidden anxiety; worry over her keeps him from sleeping at night.'
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And in all cases — if they are barren, that cuts off hope entirely;
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— and how much more if they are wicked, about whom it says: 'A generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother' (Prov. 30:11).
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Children were made dear to a person only that he hold on to what the Lord has provided from them and not grow weary of it — as it says: 'Behold, children are an inheritance of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward' (Ps. 127:3).