(excerpts from a fascinating article)
"From the Talmud (Sotah 12a) it is clear that as the leader of his generation, Moses' father, Amram, had vast influence over the Jewish people. When Pharaoh decreed that "every son that will be born — into the river shall you throw him" (1:22), Amram became greatly discouraged....He then divorced his wife, Yocheved.
"When word of this spread, the other Jewish men did the same. Amram's daughter, Miriam, saw this and said, ''Father, your 'decree' is harsher than Pharaoh's....your 'decree' will mean that no Jewish males or females will be born. Furthermore, Pharaoh has decreed against life in this world, while your decree will affect life in this world as well as in the World to Come."
"(Once a child is conceived, it is entitled to a share in the World to Come....)....Amram accepted Miriam's argument and publicly remarried Yocheved. This served as an encouragement to the other separated couples to remarry, and they proceeded to do the same....
"Amram....came to the logical conclusion that it was purposeless to bring children into a world where they would be drowned shortly after birth. And, even if they somehow survived that ordeal, they would eventually be ruthlessly enslaved to Pharaoh....Yet his mercy was misplaced — because by remarrying Yocheved, he had a son, the future Moses, who would lead the Jewish nation out of Egypt. Had Amram not heeded his daughter's advice, his act of 'kindness' would have been an act of cruelty of monumental proportions.
"A similar act of misplaced mercy is found in the Prophets (II Kings 20:1, Isaiah 38:1):....When Hezekiah heard [a]...death sentence from the prophet Isaiah, he asked, 'What is the reason for all this? (What sin did I commit to deserve so severe a punishment?)' Isaiah responded, 'It is because you did not get married and engage in procreation.' Hezekiah told him, 'I did not marry because I saw...that if I did I would have wicked children ...'
"'Why do you concern yourself with the hidden secrets of the Divine?' replied Isaiah. 'What you are commanded to do, you must do, and what is found to be good before the Divine, He will do!'
"Hezekiah....had a son, Menasheh, who succeeded him as king. Menasheh had the longest rule of any Jewish king, 55 years, but was a terribly evil and instituted a reign of terror in Jerusalem, filling its streets with the blood of innocent victims....
"Hezekiah had correctly seen that he would have a wicked son. But he did not know that Menasheh would have a grandson, Josiah, who would epitomize the pentitent, as the Prophet says (II Kings 23:25...): Before him, there had never been a king like him who returned to G-d with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his wealth, in accordance with the entire Torah of Moses, and after him no one arose like him.
"Josiah uprooted the idols of his wicked grandfather and father and brought the people back to the service of the Divine....Had his great-grandfather Hezekiah refrained from marrying, the Jewish people would have lost this great person whose mark was felt on the nation for generations to come.
THERE'S ONLY ONE KNOW-IT-ALL....
"History has shown how utterly wrong the Malthusian Theory has proven to be....Yet scientists and writers continue to warn of the dangers of population explosion and advise that the ideal family have no more than two children, which would keep the population stable and ensure that nobody starves. As ludicrous as this fear is, it has been adopted as fact by countless people worldwide. What they fail to recognize is that Hashem, the One Who nourishes, sustains and supports [all creations] from the horns of the re'eimim to the eggs of lice (i.e., from the greatest and largest creatures to the smallest ones) will certainly take care of every human being to provide him with his needs (see Talmud, Shabbos 107b)."As we have seen in our times, this can be manifested in many ways. It can be achieved with great advancements in science and technology which make it possible to produce vast quantities of food on small tracts of land. Additionally, technology has spawned the development of foods that can meet the nutritional requirements of people without the need for farmland altogether. Foods that are highly concentrated in both caloric and vitamin intake have been developed that can be mass produced cheaply enough to feed many times over the entire world's population. It is not necessary to concern ourselves with the age-old question of Mah nochal, 'What will we eat?' (Leviticus 25:20)....
"A large family is a great blessing, not a liability. If anything, it is easier to raise children in a large family because the older ones assist in the task and thereby develop parenting skills themselves. As for the additional financial burden of a large family, the Talmud (Niddah 31b) states that G-d sends every child into this world with a source of livelihood (see Maharsha). Moreover, one really never knows which of his children will provide the most nachas (famial pride and joy). It often occurs that the little ben zekunim'l (youngest child born to older parents) whom nobody expected (or wanted) can be the one who achieves the greatest accomplishments.
"Every child carries a unique blessing for his family and for Klal Yisrael. It is the supreme task of life to realize and develop that blessing."
