Punishment Before Age 20
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Question
Hi, good week. You answered me that there is a dispute regarding punishment before age 20. There is one issue that I found difficult to understand.. A. After all, the Rambam (who says there is no karet before age 20) was long before the Chacham Tzvi (who writes: "When one reaches the age of understanding, even in childhood, when he already knows it is a transgression, he must suffer according to his actions.") and the Chatam Sofer (who, as I understand, claims that the punishment is in this world). And the Rambam explicitly writes that there is none ("We learned from tradition that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not punish with karet until after twenty years"), and because he was many years before, he probably knows better (because he claims it was passed down from generation to generation - "from tradition"), and Rashi (chapter 16, verse 27) and the Chida (who claims there are no punishments in heaven before age 20) say there is no punishment at all in the heavenly court before age 20.. And if the Chacham Tzvi said that what is told in the Gemara that Isaac will defend and say that a person is not liable for punishment until age 20 - this is aggadic and not halachic, then what about what the Rambam ruled..? If so, it seems that only the Chacham Tzvi "was stringent" on this issue, and the overwhelming majority say there is no karet/punishments before age 20 in the heavenly court. B. In the Torah, to my understanding, the age of 20 is mentioned many times (half-shekel, sin of the spies, military, etc.), so maybe this hints at the topic I mentioned..? C. There are rabbis who told me that there is no karet before age 20, but there are those who added that rectification is needed. If so, why did the Rambam write simply that there is no karet and did not add that if one sins, repentance is needed or something like that..?
Answer
Hello
As you wrote, there is a difference between 'karet' and other punishments.
There is no proof from the fact that 'the age of 20 is mentioned in the Torah for several matters'.
The Rambam is very precise in his language, and when he writes that there is no karet, it is specifically karet and not any punishment.