ZEKHUT AVOT (Ancestral merit). Zekhut avot is a Hebrew phrase that refers to the merits of the ancestors of Israel. Biblical teaching frequently presupposes that reward and punishment have a collective dimension. Many passages are directed to the people of Israel as a whole—for example, Deuteronomy 11:13–17. Some passages suggest that later generations benefit or suffer as a result of the actions of their ancestors, as in Exodus 20:5–6 and 34:7; Deuteronomy 7:8–10; and Lamentations 5:7. Other statements that deny or downplay transgenerational recompense, such as Ezekiel 14 and 18, balance these judgments. Later rabbinic and medieval interpretation tended to restrict the penal aspect, limiting it to grievous sins like idolatry and to cases in which the sons perpetuated the sins of their fathers. Examples include B.T. Makkot 24 and the commentaries of Abraham Ibn Ezra (1093–1167) and Naẖmanides on Exodus 20. Some biblical verses single out the particular benefit derived from the...