Why Bring Children Into a World of Suffering? Jewish Answers to Life, Death, and Eternal Purpose

I have a question about the Bible. If I remember correctly, it says that Adam and Eve were commanded to "be fruitful and multiply" while they were still in the Garden of Eden. So my question is: if there was eternal life, why was there a need to reproduce?

Is reproduction itself the purpose of humanity? Over the generations, trillions of human beings have been born. Will all of them return in the resurrection of the dead?

It also says that, originally, women would have given birth daily—so what was G-d’s intention for the world? If there are already countless trillions of souls, and more are still being born every day, what kind of existence or meaning can the world have?

And a second question: Why do we bring children into a world where we know they will suffer at some point, and eventually die?

Hello and blessings,

The Midrash tells us that Cain was born while Adam and Eve were still in the Garden of Eden, before the sin. Meaning, if Adam had not sinned, you and I would also be here now, but in the spiritual reality of the Garden of Eden. There still would have been Torah, and people would still face spiritual challenges, but the commandments and Torah study would have been on a much higher level. Eventually, the world would have reached redemption, and humanity would ascend from the lower Garden of Eden to the higher one.

When the final redemption comes, we will return to that original, pre-sin state of Adam—pure, eternal, and elevated—and we will merit that same spiritual existence.

As for your question about the sheer number of people in the world today: indeed, humanity is growing rapidly. There are currently over 7 billion people alive, but despite this, most of the Earth's land is still uninhabited, so there is more than enough space for everyone to live.

We bring children into the world because every child has a soul, and every soul is destined to choose between good and evil in this world. Through those choices, they build their share in the World to Come.