Sin

:This page is about sin in the context of religion. For other meanings, see Sin (disambiguation)

Jewish views of sin

Judaism regards the violation of divine commandments to be a sin. Judaism uses this term to include violations of Jewish law that are not necessarily a lapse in morality. Judaism holds that all people sin at various points in their lives, and hold that God tempers justice with mercy.

Related Topics:
Judaism - Jewish law - God - Justice

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The generic Hebrew word for any kind of sin is aveira. Based on verses in the Hebrew Bible, Judaism describes three levels of sin.

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• Pesha or Mered - An intentional sin; an action committed in deliberate defiance of God;
• Avon - This is a sin of lust or uncontrollable emotion. It is a sin done knowingly, but not done to defy God;
• Cheit - This is an unintentional sin.

Judaism holds that no human being is perfect, and all people have sinned many times. However certain states of sin (i.e. avon or cheit) does not condemn a person to damnation; only one or two truly grievous sins lead to anything approaching some Christians' idea of hell. The Biblical and rabbinic conception of God is that of a creator who tempers justice with mercy. Based on the views of Rabbeinu Tam in the Babylonian Talmud (tractate Rosh HaShanah 17b), God is said to have thirteen attributes of mercy:

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• God is merciful before someone sins, even though God knows that a person is capable of sin.
• God is merciful to a sinner even after the person has sinned.
• God represents the power to be merciful even in areas that a human would not expect or deserve.
• God is compassionate, and eases the punishment of the guilty.
• God is gracious even to those who are not deserving.
• God is slow to anger.
• God is abundant in kindness.
• God is a god of truth, thus we can count on God's promises to forgive repentant sinners.
• God guarantees kindness to future generations, as the deeds of the righteous patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) have benefits to all their descendants.
• God forgives intentional sins if the sinner repents.
• God forgives a deliberate angering of Him if the sinner repents.
• God forgives sins that are committed in error.
• God wipes away the sins from those who repent.

As Jews are commanded in imitatio Dei, emulating God, rabbis take these attributes into account in deciding Jewish law and its contemporary application.

Related Topics:
Imitatio Dei - Rabbi - Jewish law

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A classical rabbinic work, Midrash Avot de Rabbi Natan, states:

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:One time, when Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was walking in Jerusalem with Rabbi Yehoshua, they arrived at where the Temple in Jerusalem now stood in ruins. "Woe to us" cried Rabbi Yehoshua, "for this house where atonement was made for Israel's sins now lies in ruins!" Answered Rabban Yochanan, "We have another, equally important source of atonement, the practice of gemilut hasadim (loving kindness), as it is stated 'I desire loving kindness and not sacrifice'".

Related Topics:
Jerusalem - Temple in Jerusalem

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The Babylonian Talmud teaches that "Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Eleazar both explain that as long as the Temple stood, the altar atoned for Israel, but now, one's table atones ." (Tractate Berachot, 55a.)

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The traditional liturgy of the Days of Awe (the High Holy Days; i.e. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) states that prayer, repentance and tzedakah (charitable actions) are how one atones for sin.

Related Topics:
Traditional liturgy - Rosh Hashanah - Yom Kippur - Prayer

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Jewish conceptions of atonement for sin

Atonement for sins is discussed in the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament. Rituals for atonement occurred in the Temple in Jerusalem, and were performed by the Kohanim, the Israelite priests. These services included song, prayer, offerings and animal sacrifices known as the korbanot. The rites for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are prescribed in the book of Leviticus. The ritual of the scapegoat, sent into the wilderness to be claimed by Azazel, was one of these observances.

Related Topics:
Hebrew Bible - Old Testament - Temple in Jerusalem - Kohanim - Sacrifice - Korbanot - Yom Kippur - Leviticus - Scapegoat - Azazel

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A number of animal sacrifices were prescribed in the Torah (five books of Moses) to make atonement: a sin-offering for sins, and a guilt offering for religious trespasses. The significance of animal sacrifice is not expanded on at length in the Torah, though Genesis IX:4 and Leviticus XVII suggest that blood and vitality were linked. Later Biblical prophets occasionally make statements to the effect that the hearts of the people were more important than their sacrifices.

Related Topics:
Torah - Sin-offering - Guilt offering - Genesis - Prophet

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Note that Judaism's views on sin and atonement are not identical to those in the Hebrew Bible alone, but rather are based on the laws of the Bible as seen through the Jewish oral law.

Related Topics:
Judaism - Oral law

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