[Avodah] I remember the sin of parents for [their] children

[Prof. Levine]

The following is part of RSRH's commentary on Shemos 20:5

5 Do not prostrate yourself before them and do 
not serve them, for I, Hashem, your God, am a God 
Who demands His exclusive right; I remember
the sin of parents for [their] children, for the 
third and fourth generation, for those who hate Me;

Now then, what is the meaning of pokad ahvon avos al bonim ... l'sonoi? Does
it mean that God remembers the sins of the parents, when children,
grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren hate Him? Does it mean
that when children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren continue
on the path of sin, God remembers the first step taken by the
parents, considers that the sin has not yet become embedded throughout
many generations, that return is still possible, and He tries to lead the
children, the grandchildren or even the great-grandchildren back to
Him by educating them in the school of suffering? Does it mean that
if the fourth generation does not repent, subsequent generations perish
in their sin?

Perhaps the meaning is that God visits the sins of the parents upon
the children, and so on, if they hate Him. Children, grandchildren, and
great-grandchildren continue to suffer the consequences of the parents’
sin, because they continue on the path of sin. Because of their sins,
they are stricken with troubles and suffering; for the example of their
parents set them on a path full of obstacles, inviting sin and sorrow
into their cradles, to accompany them throughout their lives.
Perhaps the meaning is that God punishes parents by the suffering
that they cause their children through the sins they bequeath to them
for their journey through life.

Perhaps the meaning is that God carries over the sins of parents to
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; He makes them responsible
for atoning for the sins of the parents.  Instead 
of quickly destroying the parents
because of their sins, God waits until the fourth generation: perhaps
grandchildren or great-grandchildren will return and rectify the deeds
of the parents. Only then, if there is no betterment, does He allow the
generation to perish in their continued guilt.

Whatever may be the true nature of this Divine attribute, two fundamental
truths emerge from it for our most earnest reflection:

The one and only God wants us to accept upon ourselves the yoke
of His rule over all our actions and to recognize Him as the Lawgiver
for our whole lives, and it is He Who grants us life and sustains us for
the fulfillment of His Law. It is in our power to build up our lives or
to ruin them, all according to the measure of our adherence to, or
defiance of, His Law. God lives and endures, and He judges a person
according to his deeds. There is no escape from His judgment.

Furthermore, the weal or woe of the children depends on the parents
— all according to the measure of their virtue or vice. Children are
fruit growing on the tree of the life and fate of the parents. For the sake
of our children we should preserve our health; for the sake of our
children we should act morally and charitably; for the sake of our children
we should be spiritually vigilant and valiant.

Just as it is certain that God sends each child into this world with a
perfectly pure soul, it also is certain that parents bequeath to the physical
nature of their child their flawed propensities, weaknesses and defects.
These present the child with a formidable task, and to overcome them the
pure soul of the child must test and prove its godlike power. The parents’
sins line the cradle of their infant with 
unhappiness, sickness, and the example
of moral degeneration, and the little citizen of the world is destined
to climb a hard steep path of trials until he prevails in the moral test.
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