Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

regards the violation of any of the

613 commandments According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments (). Although the number 613 is mentioned in the Talmud, its real significance increased in later medieval rabbinic literature, including many works listing or arranged by the . Th ...

as a sin. Judaism teaches that to sin is a part of life, since there is no perfect human and everyone has an

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

to do evil "from youth", though people are born sinless. Sin has many classifications and degrees. Unintentional sins are considered less severe sins. Sins committed out of lack of knowledge are not considered sins. When the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

yet stood in Jerusalem, people would offer

korbanot In Judaism, the (), also spelled or , is any of a variety of Sacrifice, sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. The plural form is , , or . The term primarily refers to sacrificial offerings given from humans to God f ...

(sacrifices) for their misdeeds. The atoning aspect of korbanot is carefully circumscribed. For the most part, ''korbanot'' only expiate unintentional sins committed as a result of human forgetfulness or error. No atonement is needed for violations committed under duress or through lack of knowledge, and for the most part, ''korbanot'' cannot atone for malicious, deliberate sin. In addition, ''korbanot'' have no expiating effect unless the person making the offering sincerely repents of his or her actions before making the offering, and makes restitution to any person(s) harmed by the violation.

Terminology

The Hebrew Bible uses several words to describe sin. The standard noun for sin is (verb: ''hata''), meaning to "miss the mark" or "sin". The word is often translated as "iniquity", i.e. a sin done out of moral failing. The word ''pesha'', or "trespass", means a sin done out of rebelliousness. The word refers to an act committed with a wicked intention. In several Biblical verses, a person confesses to several such categories of sin one after the other. According to the rabbis, these terms refer to sins of different severities: ''ḥeṭ'' refers to unintentional sin, ''avon'' to intentional sin (not done to defy God), and ''pesha'' to rebellion. A person is responsible for each of these sins, though least responsible for unintentional sins and most responsible for sins of defiance and rebellion. Situation in which there is no responsibility include ''oness'' (one was forced to commit a sin by factors beyond their control); tinok shenishba (a person who was raised in an environment that was assimilated or non-Jewish, and is not aware of the proper Jewish laws); and ''heresh, shoteh, katan'' (deaf-mute, insane, minor - people who are presumed not to have mental capacity to understand their sin). A term for sin often used in rabbinic Hebrew, but not appearing in the Bible, is ''aveira'' (meaning "transgression"). The related phrase ''la'avor brito'' ("to transgress His covenant") does appear in the Bible.

View of human nature

Judaism rejects the idea of

original sin Original sin () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all humans share, which is inherited from Adam and Eve due to the Fall of man, Fall, involving the loss of original righteousness and the distortion of the Image ...

: it believes that humans enter the world pure, with the ability to choose either good or evil via their

free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...

. A person always has the power to avoid sin and its negative effects. Due to free will, goodness is not impossible, only difficult at times. This ability to choose freely is what makes humans responsible for those sins they do commit. The Bible states that the tendency of the mind is to evil: "For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" However, in the biblical verses this is brought as an argument for divine mercy, as humans cannot be blamed for the nature they were created with. Therefore God in His mercy allowed people to repent and be forgiven.

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

is said to temper

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

with

mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French , from Medieval Latin , "price paid, wages", from Latin , "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social, and legal contexts. In the social and le ...

, and to follow the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in order to forgive sins. Judaism teaches that humans contain a ''yetzer'', or human instinct. Many sources speak of both a ''yetzer hatov'' ("good inclination") and a '' yetzer hara'' ("evil inclination") in the human soul.The Jewish View of Sin
/ref> The ''yetzer hatov'' is conceptualized in different sources as a tendency towards goodness, productivity, or concern for others, while the ''yetzer hara'' is conceptualized as a tendency towards evil, selfishness, or base or animal behavior. In some sources the character of

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

, too, is equated with the human psychological inclination for evil (in contrast to the

fallen angel Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described ...

of traditional Christianity). People have the ability to master their evil inclination () and choose good over evil (). Being a psychological inclination, the rabbis saw positive aspects even in the ''yetzer hara'': without it, humans would not be motivated to marry, bear children, or conduct business (as these activities are often motivated by lust or greed). A similar attitude appears in Hillel's famous statement: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I?" According to the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

, just four individuals in all of history never sinned: "

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

, son of Jacob;

Amram In the Book of Exodus, Amram (; ) is the husband of Jochebed and father of Aaron, Moses and Miriam. In the Holy Scriptures In addition to being married to Jochebed, Amram is also described in the Bible as having been related to Jochebed ...

, father of Moses; Jesse, father of David; and

Chileab Chileab (, ''Ḵīləʾāḇ'') also known as Daniel, was the second son of David, King of Israel, according to the Bible. He was David's son with his second wife Abigail, widow of Nabal the Carmelite, and is mentioned in , and . Unlike the o ...

, son of David". By implication, the great heroes of the Bible - including Jacob, Moses, and David, mentioned in this very passage - did sin, as does every other person in history. In fact, the whole

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''

This idea is exemplified by the following story:

Types of sin

Sins between man and his fellow

Jews recognize two kinds of sin, offenses against other people, and offenses against God. As such, in Judaism the term "sin" includes violations of

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

that are not necessarily a lapse in morality. According to some sources, sins between people are considered more severe than sins between man and God, as the very purpose of the Torah is to prevent suffering. Other sources say it is impossible to determine the relative severity of different sins.

Many small sins vs. One big sin

A story is told of two Jews who visited their

rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

, seeking advice regarding sins they had committed. One had committed a large sin which seemed unforgivable, while the other was less worried, only being guilty of the usual variety of minor sins. The rebbe told them to go outside and collect stones corresponding to the number and magnitude of their sins, and then to scatter those stones again in the field. Having accomplished this, they returned to the rebbe who told them to gather the scattered stones. He who had committed a single large sin found his large stone easily, while he who had committed many sins had trouble identifying and collecting all of his stones. The rebbe stated that the stones were comparable to sins: "You who committed a great sin was aware of having sinned, and with sincere repentance can repent. But you who committed many minor sins will find it hard to catch up with your sins until you realize that even small deeds matter."

Contract

Offenses against God may be understood as violation of the contract, or covenant, between God and Israelites. The Bible records several such covenants, by which the Israelites committed to obey God's commands, and in return God promised to reward them. As such, disobeying God's commands would constitute a breach of the covenant. Similarly, the poem of shows evidence of a covenant broken by Israel.

Other situations

Sforno Ovadia ben Jacob Sforno (Obadja Sforno, Hebrew language, Hebrew: עובדיה ספורנו) was an Italian rabbi, Jewish commentaries on the Bible, Biblical commentator, Philosophy, philosopher and physician. A member of the Sforno (family), Sfo ...

suggests that , which discusses a leader who has sinned, begins with the term "when" (rather than "if") in order to imply that leaders - being powerful and wealthy people - will almost inevitably sin. This Torah verse concludes with the words "realizes his guilt" because it is essential that powerful people acknowledge and feel remorse for their sin, lest they sin again. In Judaism one is not only permitted but required to perform most sins, if necessary in order to save human life. This principle is called

pikuach nefesh ''Pikuach nefesh'' (), which means "saving a soul" or "saving a life," is the principle in ''Halakha'' (Jewish law) that the preservation of human life overrides virtually any other religious rule of Judaism. In the event that a person is in critic ...

. The only exceptions are the three exceptional sins (murder, idolatry, and sexual misconduct), which one must die rather than commit.

Reward and punishment

Divine punishment

Divine reward and punishment is a central belief in Judaism, according to which God rewards the righteous and punishes sinners for their deeds. Such punishment may occur in this world (for example by receiving a bad harvest), or in the afterlife. The issue of

theodicy In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός ''theos'', "god" and δίκη ''dikē'', "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when all powe ...

is discussed in the Bible as well as rabbinic literature; according to one rabbinic opinion, mostly-righteous individuals are punished in this world for the sins they have committed, in order that they may be purely rewarded in the World to Come.

Leviticus Rabbah Leviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic midrash to the Biblical book of Leviticus (''Vayikrah'' in Hebrew). It is referred to by Nathan ben Jehiel (c. 1035–1106) in his ''Arukh'' as well as by Rashi (1040–110 ...

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Human punishment

During the time of the

, Jewish courts punished certain sins with varying forms of punishment depending on the exact sin, as depicted in the Torah. These punishments included lashes, fines, and execution. After the destruction of the

second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

and the

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...

, physical punishments were no longer given due to the necessity of the Sanhedrin for their execution.

Atonement

Judaism describes various means of receiving atonement for sin, that is, reconciliation with God and release from punishment. The main method of atonement is via

repentance Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past or present wrongdoings, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. In modern times, it is generally seen ...

. Other means (e.g. Temple sacrifices, judicial punishments, and returning stolen property) may be involved in the atonement process, together with repentance.

References

Works cited

* {{Authority control

Sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

Sin Point of view