If one peruses history, he notes that the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem, Sanctifying Hashem’s Name, has applied to children as well. In other words, parents who were prepared to sacrifice themselves to sanctify Hashem’s Name were, likewise, prepared to do the same for their children. During the Crusades, it was not unusual for parents to take the lives of their children prior to killing themselves, just so that the murderers would not defile their bodies. Why are children not exempt from the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem? The only reason that mitzvos apply to children is chinuch, educating them in the…
