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I have a question to anyone in Judaism, what is the Judaïstic view on (personal) sin? Is there a particular, personal sense of sin? Or how is sin viewed or dealt with in Judaism? Can any human being perfectly keep the law? That seems to be the standard as it says in KJV Deutoronomy 27:26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
But how then, was David a man after G-ds own heart, even though he disobeyed the law by adultery and murder, to which the law prescribes the death penalty?
Thanks in advance!
Yes, there is personal sense of sin. The Hebrew term for sin is het, which means to basically miss the mark (much like an archer misses the bulls-eye). If we fail to follow the Torah, then we have "missed the mark". And it is dealt with through teshuvah, or returning to the path. We do this on a personal level as we fall short of our obligations, and we do it on a collective level on Yom Kippur.
As for David, he was a man. Like the rest of us, he had two natures (yetzer hatov and yetzer hara), and both influenced his decisions. We are not meant to be perfect; we are meant to be human and to use the intellect God gave us to evaluate the world around us and to make decisions. When we sin, we repent and make changes in our lives to keep from making the same mistakes again.
Of course it comes from "Hebrew tradition", and the answer is it is regarded as both a factual account and a metaphorical myth.
Many Jews, both today and throughout history, have regarded Bresheet (a.k.a. Genesis) as a literal retelling of God's actions regarding the creation of the world and all that lives on it.
Many Jews, including some of our wisest rabbis (such Maimonides, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Rashi), see the Creation myth as allegory. It holds tremendous teaching and symbolism, but it is not a scientific text to be taken literally; Maimonides (and many sages that came before him) taught that if our understanding of Scripture was in conflict with science or reason, then it was likely that our understanding was flawed.
Er where do you get the impression that Rashi understands Masseh Bere**** ( the creation account) as a Mashal (allegory/parable?
Yes, there is personal sense of sin. The Hebrew term for sin is het, which means to basically miss the mark (much like an archer misses the bulls-eye). If we fail to follow the Torah, then we have "missed the mark". And it is dealt with through teshuvah, or returning to the path. We do this on a personal level as we fall short of our obligations, and we do it on a collective level on Yom Kippur.
As for David, he was a man. Like the rest of us, he had two natures (yetzer hatov and yetzer hara), and both influenced his decisions. We are not meant to be perfect; we are meant to be human and to use the intellect God gave us to evaluate the world around us and to make decisions. When we sin, we repent and make changes in our lives to keep from making the same mistakes again.
And that is what God wants of us.
Thanks for your answer JB, it does raise a few more questions though. We were created perfect right? Genesis 1:26 says that man was created in the image of God. And Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement as far as I know, so correct me if I'm wrong but is atonement necessary in dealing with sin?
Do you still sacrifice animals in Judaism, and are there still priests for this task?
I found indeed Chata'ah is used in Hebrew for sin, but it's not the only term. For instance in Psalm 32:1 the word David uses for transgression in Hebrew is Pesha,
and he says that blessed is the man whose transgression or 'Pesha' is covered (which again I think makes reference to the need for atonement.)
Now Pesha has a more serious meaning of a wilfull transgression against G-d. This seems to fit in the context of this Psalm as David had transgressed against G-d, was confronted by Nathan (2 Samuel 12) for his sins, and only after he did not hide his sin any longer (Ps 32:5) and trusted in G-d (verse 10) it seems he found his peace with the Lord and forgiveness.
And in verse 2 the word used for iniquity is "Avon", which is the idea of perversion, also more serious than just missing the mark it seems?
Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
It seems that forgiveness of sin is a very important part of Judaism, how do you know for sure your sins are forgiven?
No. If we were perfect, there would be no need to be born. We are put on this earth for tikkun (rectification) of our soul in the areas that we have not rectified already during previous lifetimes. We keep doing it till we get it right. Then we don't have to be born anymore. There are 613 mitzvot to fullfil; this can take a lot of lifetimes to do them all.
No. If we were perfect, there would be no need to be born. We are put on this earth for tikkun (rectification) of our soul in the areas that we have not rectified already during previous lifetimes. We keep doing it till we get it right. Then we don't have to be born anymore. There are 613 mitzvot to fullfil; this can take a lot of lifetimes to do them all.
Because as a Jew, I have bitachon and emunah (trust and faith). I trust G-d and I trust the Torah, which gives me clear instructions on tshuva. The focus for a Jew is on doing the good stuff in our daily life, to occupy ourselves always with Torah study, prayer, mitzvot, acts of kindness. If we go off the derech (path) then Torah makes it really clear how to get back on.
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