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Sin: Chet (חֵטְא)
Missing the Mark
By Mendel Kalmenson and Zalman Abraham

Art by Sefira Lightstone
The Jewish concept of sin differs radically from the common understanding of this fraught term. The English word sin comes from the Latin word sons, which means guilty or criminal. Whereas the Hebrew word for sin, chet, means something akin to a missed opportunity, like an arrow missing its mark.1

Many people believe that sin leaves an indelible blemish on a person’s soul—as if a person’s actions can affect their essential state of being.

Inevitably, this approach to the consequences of immoral behavior will induce not only feelings of guilt for the action itself but feelings of shame as well, which conflate the sinner with their sin.

According to Jewish thought, sin doesn’t mean that one’s soul has become tainted or corroded, it merely means one acted in conflict with their essence, which is eternally pure and incorruptible.

In Talmudic thought, to sin is to be overcome by a moment of temporary insanity, as the Sage Reish Lakish teaches2 : “A person doesn’t commit a transgression unless a spirit of madness enters them.”

Like an amygdala hijacking,3 a transgression similarly blocks out the spiritual voice of reason and logic emanating from our G‑dly soul. It harnesses our faculties in pursuit of a deed or experience that does not reflect our true essence and well-being.

Sin is, therefore, a foolish investment in an empty and worthless behavior; it does not, however, ultimately define us.

For the innermost core of our soul is always pure4 and holy; it is just a matter of whether we respect and reflect that innate state of being, or whether we devalue and desecrate it.

We find this idea expressed poignantly in the following story in the Talmud5 : “There was a group of hooligans in R. Meir’s neighborhood who caused him a great deal of pain. R. Meir prayed that they should die. R. Meir’s wife, Berurya, said to him, ‘What is your thinking?’ He replied, ‘It is written: Let sins cease from the land.’ Said Berurya, ‘Is it written, “let sinners cease?”… Moreover, look to the end of the verse, and the wicked will be no more… [implying that] transgressions will cease [not the sinners], and [as a result] the wicked will be no more. Instead, pray that they should repent.’ Indeed, he prayed for them, and they repented.”

If wickedness was an essential aspect of our inner being, it would make sense to pray for the eradication of the wicked themselves, but Judaism doesn’t see humanity that way. All people have a Divine spark at their core that is indestructible.6 True, people are also capable of doing bad things, but once they stop engaging in those negative behaviors, their essential goodness can radiate once more. From this perspective, sinful behavior merely covers up one’s inner Divine light; it does not extinguish or even alter it. In other words, a sin is what one does, not who they are.

This is not to say that Judaism does not hold individuals responsible for the choices they make; it does. As G‑d tells Cain7 : Sin crouches at your door and desires that you let it in, but you can control yourself. According to Judaism, it is our responsibility to guard ourselves from the “spirit of folly” that constantly lurks, waiting for us to drop our defenses, so it can infiltrate our lives and wreak havoc.

We alone are responsible for the influences we allow to enter our psyches and senses. In the words of a Talmudic proverb8 : “It is not the mouse that is [to blame], but the hole [it came through].”

For this reason, rather than using the feelings of guilt and shame that often follow one’s regrettable actions as motivators for behavioral change after the fact, Judaism encourages us to invest our efforts in proactive and preventative measures to ward off sins before they happen.

In fact, according to Chasidic teaching,9 the negative feelings one entertains following a transgression can themselves be considered a sin of sorts, a kind of emotional indulgence that only serves to bring one down even further.10 Such feelings can be a ploy of the negative inclination to make us feel even worse about our previous behavior in order to plunge us even deeper into the quagmire of depression, despair, and lethargy.11

But what is the appropriate response for one who has “missed their mark” according to Judaism?

Ultimately, everything that transpires in our lives, even sin, has a purpose and is a necessary part of our life’s journey. Indeed, once a person has already sinned, they now have an opportunity to attain greater spiritual sensitivity and growth than they could have achieved without it.12

For this reason, the Sages teach: A baal teshuvah or penitent is considered to be of even greater spiritual standing than a tzaddik—a saintly individual who has never known sin.13

This is because, having experienced the intense feeling of distance from G‑d brought on by sin, the penitent experiences a uniquely intense yearning and thirst for closeness to G‑d, triggered by their prior feelings of separation and disconnection.14

The tzaddik, however, can never experience such fervor, because he has never strayed from the path of G‑d and does not know the pain and suffering caused by sin and the consequential burning desire for connection.

In sum: Sin is not an expression of a corrupted nature, nor does it fundamentally mar one’s essence. The soul is eternally pure and good, and nothing can ever change that spiritual reality. Sin is simply what happens when a person is distracted from their soul-mission and veers off course. But, with effort and support, we can always redirect our energies, realign our priorities, and reclaim our essential goodness. It would surely be a sin to not make the most out of such an opportunity.

The Big Idea
In Judaism, a sin is understood as a moment of temporary “insanity” rather than a permanent stain on our soul, which always remains irrevocably good and G‑dly.

It Happened Once
Noted psychologist R. Dr. Abraham Twersky once shared a valuable lesson from his childhood:
“One of the few memories I have of being disciplined by my father for something of which he disapproved was his telling me in a quiet, firm, and no-nonsense tone three Yiddish words, ‘Es past nisht,’ which means ‘this does not become you.’ The message was clear. I knew what I was not to do, but it was not until many years later that I appreciated the full content of my father’s rebuke. He had told me that I was not to do something [not because it was bad, but because I was good, therefore] that particular behavior was beneath me. Es past nisht meant simply that I was too good for that. This is the diametric opposite of a put down. I was told I was a person of excellence. [Essentially, my father was telling me]: This [behavior] is incompatible and out of character for someone like you.”

FOOTNOTES
1. See, for example, Judges 20:16 and I Kings 1:21.
2. Sotah 3a.
3. An amygdala hijacking describes the emotional response to stimuli that hijacks the rational part of the brain. You can read more about an amygdala hijacking here: https://www.healthline.com/health/stress/amygdala-hijack.
4. See Derech Chaim, Ch. 8, et al.
5. Brachot 10a.
6. See Zohar III: 16a; ibid .13b; see also Ma’amarei Admur Ha’emtza’i Hanachot 5577, p. 302.
7. Genesis 4:7.
8. Gittin 45a.
9. See Tanya, Ch. 26.
10. Notably, in addition to encouraging preventative action rather than using guilt and shame as tools of deterrence for sin, Judaism’s ultimate method for inspiring righteous behavior is its focus on the profound impact of our actions. A powerful example of this can be found in the Talmudic discussion relating to witnesses who are called upon to testify in a capital case. The Mishnah asks (Sanhedrin 4:5): “How would they admonish the witnesses?” Meaning, due to the severity of a capital case, where there is an extra need to discourage witnesses from testifying falsely, what would be said to the witnesses to discourage them from lying? The Mishnah says that, among other things, we tell them that “each and every person is obligated to say, ‘Bishvili nivra ha’olam, for my sake was the world created (and I must therefore do the right thing).’” (See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Sanhedrin 12:3 with Lechem Mishneh ad loc.)
Simply put, when seeking to inspire ethical behavior, our Sages’ method of choice was to inspire a sense of agency, purpose, and empowerment.
11. One way to ascertain whether your feelings of compunction derive from a noble impulse or from a deceptive influence (i.e., the yetzer hara) is to look at their end result. Do your feelings of failure and inadequacy impel you to improve your behavior, or do they keep you stuck in self-defeating patterns and block your path forward? If they are holding you back, then such feelings themselves are “sinful” according to the Jewish definition, because they cause you to continually “miss your mark.” As the early Chasidim would say: “Depression is not a sin, but it can take you lower than any sin can take you.” See Beit Aharon, Seder Hayom 4b.

By Mendel Kalmenson and Zalman Abraham More by this author
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