בענין הברכה "ברוך שפטרני" לבר מצוה
It is well known that a young man upon becoming 13 years old is called to the Torah, and afterwards his father makes the blessing ברוך שפטרני מענשו של זה. The standard explanation is that until now the father assumed the burden of the sins of the young son. And now, the son is responsible for his own sins.
However, this is difficult, for it is explained that until a person is 20 years old one is not punished for their own sins (Shabbos 89b). As the Gemara explains that people punished during the episode of the Spies had to be 20 years of age and older (Bemidbar 14, 29).
Thus, Rabbi Epstein explains that the blessing said by the father is really a blessing that applies to the bar-mitzvah child. According to the Gemara (Shabbos 32b) a minor child can suffer for the sins of the parent. At the time of the Bar Mitzvah, the child leaves this state and is no longer liable for punishment as a result of the acts of a parent. A child at 13 is called a “man” and is no longer the minor child (different from the age of punishment at 20) as explained by Rashi (Nazir 29b) and Tosfos Yom Tov Avos (5, 13).
An allusion that this blessing applies to the Bar Mitzvah boy is from the words "מענשו של זה" (from the punishment of this one), which are not clear. No other blessing has this type of wording. However, the word זה is found in the verse in Mishlei 23, 22) שמע לאביך זה ילדך. In that verse the word זה refers to the father. Thus, the words "מענשו של זה" means (referring to the child no longer being exempt) “from being punished for the sins of the father.” Therefore, it is not clear why the farther says this blessing and not the son.
This blessing does not specify the father, out of respect to the father, by not referring to the possibility of severe sins that the father could have committed.
According to this understanding, when a daughter becomes the age of 12, a blessing should also be said since a daughter can also have been the subject of punishments as a result of the actions of the parent. This would be a very new idea and needs further review.
