NUM160 [sinning, in respect to] the entire Torah is hereby likened to [sinning in respect to] idolatry, viz.: Just as with idolatry one is not liable until he commits an act with his body, so, with [sinning in respect to] all [the mitzvoth] of the Torah (Shabbath 153b)

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NUM161 The things that inhibit repentance are exceedingly numerous. I have mentioned most of them already, earlier in this gate. Persisting and delaying. To these should be added deciding on sin, i.e., persisting in it and delaying its renunciation. As long as this continues, there cannot be any repentance. There is an old saying: “No sin is small, if one persists in it. No sin is great, if one seeks forgiveness for it.” This is because one who persists indicates contempt for the word of God, takes lightly His command and prohibition, and [scornfully] invites upon himself His punishment. Of such a person it was said, “But the person who acts defiantly... that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has shown contempt for God's word (Bemidbar 15: 30-31). Furthermore, if one persists in a sin, even if only a small one, it grows larger and larger as one persists in it. On the other hand, a great sin--if one asks forgiveness for it and renounces it for fear of God--grows smaller and smaller and is diminished, until it is erased from the book of his demerits, and he is cleared through repentance. Consider silk thread: how strong it becomes when folded over many times! And yet you know that its origin is the weakest of things--the secretion of a worm. On the other hand, consider how a ship’s thick cable, when used over a long period of time, gradually wears out, until it finally snaps and becomes the weakest of all [materials]. The same is true of small or great sins. [They grow large] if one persists in them, or [small] if one seeks forgiveness for them. For this reason, Scripture compares them to ropes, as it says: “Woe to those who draw iniquity with tenuous strings, [who draw] sin as with wagon ropes” (Yeshayahu 5:18). There is an old saying: “Do not focus on the triviality of what you have done but on the exaltedness of the One you have sinned against. Do not rejoice that people are unaware of the evil within you; rather, grieve because the Creator is aware of what you conceal, sees your hidden thoughts and outward practices, and remembers them better than you do. For you forget, but He does not forget; you fail to see, but He does not fail to see.” As it says, “Look, it is recorded before Me” (ibid. 65:6); “The sin of Yehudah is recorded” (Yirmeyahu 17:1).

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NUM162 The prophetic belief that God searches the heart resulted in the recognition of a distinction between "secret errors" and "presumptuous sins" (Ps. 19:13f.) or sins committed "with a high hand" (this verse); individual responsibility is stressed in numbers 16:20-22). The Priestly Code limited the atoning efficacy of the sin and guilt offerings to offenses committed unconsciously and without deliberation.

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NUM163 See [[EXOD96]] Exodus 5:2 who SINAI1 293

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NUM164 (Continued from [[DEUT1250]] Deuteronomy 23:14 excrement GATES 217-9) One is certainly admonished not to utter Hashem's Name with unclean hands, and if one's hands touch some thing that he finds repulsive he should wash them, similar to what the pasuk says (Tehillim 26:6), "I will wash my hands in purity." If while traveling on the road one is uncertain whether the way is clean, he should not utter Hashem's Name, nor speak words of Torah. [Chayei Adam (3:6, Nismas Adam 2) suggests that Rabbeinu Yonah holds the prohibition of Torah thoughts in an unclean plays with being only Rabbinic. Thus, where it is uncertain whether the way is clean, one can be lenient and permit Torah and prayer thoughts, but not speech (Sha'arei Teshuvah Hashalem).] If there is some unclean object behind him, such as excrement, the carcass of an animal, or foul water [Water in which flax was soaked, which is extremely malodorous (Ran, Nedarim 80b)], he must distance himself four amos [An amah is one cubit, approximately 21.25 inches, or 54 cm; thus, four amos is around seven feet], from where the smell has ceased; in front of him, [he must distance himself] until his eyes cannot see it. Vigilance in this is among the ways of being God-fearing, as the pasuk says (Malachi 3:16), "For those who fear Hashem and contemplate His Name." [I.e., those who contemplate whether their current place permits them to mention Hashem's Name before doing so, are God-fearing (Zeh Hasha'ar).] Our Sages, z"l, said concerning this (Berachos 24b), "'For he has disparaged Hashem's word' [this verse] -- this is a reference to one who speaks words of Torah in putrid passageways." Our stages, z"l, have further said (Koheles Rabbah 1:7), "The reason why 'He gives wisdom to the wise' (Daniel 2:21) is because the wise honor the Torah and engage it in holiness; were it to be given to fools, they would speak words of Torah in putrid passageways.

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NUM165 The fourth category [of scoffer] entails a preoccupation with idle talk and a squandering of one's time [Devarim beteilim can also be translated as "idle words," but this appears redundant here (Zeh Hasha'ar). See Strive for Truth 1:1, pg. 237; and Avos 3:2: "If two people sit together and no words of Torah are spoken between them, theirs is an assembly of scoffers."], in the manner of those who sit idly on street corners. Two ills emerge from this evil: the one--excessive talk leads to sin [See Avos 1:17], and the second--the neglect of Torah study. Within this lie the pathways towards death; for how could he failed to recall and take note that those very occasions he wasted could be utilized for the attainment of pleasantness [i.e. all the spiritual benefits in this world that the Torah provides those who study it (Sha'arei Teshuvah Hameforash) and for the acquisition of eternal life – if he would designate those free times for Torah study, when he is unoccupied with his work and his affairs? This can only be because inwardly he disparages the mitzvos and the reward given in the World to Come. Aside from the loss of much good, he will also bear his own sin, for the offense of the neglect of Torah study when one has the opportunity is a fire which consumes until it destroys. As our Sages said (Sanhedrin 99a), "For he has disparaged Hashem's word" [this verse] is a reference to one who has the opportunity to engage in Torah study and does not do so, as we have already explained.

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NUM166 Within the Jewish populace, there are many who think that the primary ruin and loss to one's soul occur only from sins performed through an action, and that there is no ruin to the soul for one free from actively sinning--one who has not walked in the ways of transgression and who [only sins through inaction, i.e. he] refrains from performing mitzvos and good deeds. Therefore, it is essential for us to impart wisdom to those who err [Yeshayahu 29:24]; for our Sages, z"l, said (Yerushalmi Chagigah 1:7), "HaKadosh Baruch Hu was willing to overlook the sins of idolatry, illicit relations, and murder, but He was not willing to overlook the sin of the neglect of the Torah." They also said [In his Igeres HaTeshuvah, Rabbeinu Yonah cites the Sifrei as the source for this saying], "Just as the reward for Torah study is greater than that of all the other mitzvos, so is the punishment of one who neglects it greater than that of all other transgressions." Furthermore, they explained (Sanhedrin 99a) that, "For he has disparaged Hashem's word and annulled His commandment" [this verse), refers to one who can engage in Torah study and does not do so." [Thus, the neglect of Torah study is one example illustrating how the contravention of positive commandments is also a great ruin and loss to one's soul.]

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NUM167 This teaches us that if he repents before he dies, death purges him out of his sin [i.e., it shall be cut off only when its transgression is still in it, but not if he repents] (Shevuoth 13a)

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NUM168 (Continued from [[LEV471]] Leviticus 19:16 idly DORFFLOV 65). Thus, even though the Torah says cryptically that Zelophehad had "died for his own sin" (Numbers 27:3) without identifying it, Rabbi Akiva asserted that Zelophehad was the unnamed man in Numbers 15:32–36 who chopped wood on the Sabbath and suffered the death penalty for desecrating the Sabbath. Rabbi Judah ben Betaira then said to Rabbi Akiva: "Akiva, one way or another, you will have to answer for what you said: if you are right [that Zelophehad is the one who desecrated the Sabbath], the Torah shielded him [by not spelling out his name] while you divulged that; and if not, you have maligned a righteous person." (B. Shabbat 96b). Even if Zelophehad had desecrated the Sabbath, by Rabbi Akiva's time Zelophehad had long been dead, and so there was no practical reason that anyone had to know that. Without such a pragmatic justification for divulging the sin, Rabbi Akiva was at fault for violating the strictures against "speaking of the bad" (lashon ha-ra). Thus, if I am interpreting Jewish law to allow professionals to keep confidences that reflect badly on the client and may even cause harm to third parties, I would surely insist that professionals keep their clients' confidences when nobody else has a practical reason to know those facts.

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NUM169 See [[DEUT934]] Deuteronomy 18:22 prophet DORFFRAG 40-1

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