The Philosophical Perspective: one of Judaisms fundamental principles of faith is the concept of “Mida Keneged Mida” what comes around goes around. H”S created a system of “rewards and punishment.” According to King Salomon in the above quoted verse from Proverbs, “evil pursues iniquity”-the adverse effects of sin are natural consequences of acts that run against to the Creators design for life.
The Prophets View: Prophecy has a deeper insight into the significance of sin. The essence of life is our connection to G-d. Transgression is an act of spiritual suicide. According to the prophet Ezekiel “the soul that sins, it shall die,” since to transgress the Divine will is to sabotage the channel of vitality that connects the soul to its source. So we can be breathing and moving around, but there is no vitality, as the verse states:”The wicked, even in their lifetimes,are considered dead. The righteous, even in death,are considered alive.”(Talmud,Berachot 18a-b)
The Torah Pespective: the Torah recognizes that the essence of a person’s life is his relationship with H”S, but it also has an understanding of a person’s make up for “a person doesn’t sin unless a spirit of folly enters him.” It is our animalistic nature that sometimes takes control and makes us fall. Since the Torah perceives the superficiality of sin, it gives us a guide on how to correct our animalistic nature and refine ourselves. The “guilt offering” achieves atonement for the sin. By sacrificing an animal in the altar we are burning the animal in us.
G-d’s Perspective: there is only the positive essence of transgression. For H”S transgression is the potential for a deeper bond with Him- a bond born out of transformation of evil into good and failure into achievement.
Excerpts taken from”Inside Time” from the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and adapted by Yanki Tauber
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