The sin tag has no wiki summary.
17
votes
5answers
567 views
How to respond to “but he does”
I mentioned to my coworker that I can't eat Domino's pizza, not even without meat, as it's not kosher. He pointed out in response that a fellow coworker of ours, whom I'll call Josh, and who is ...
16
votes
6answers
2k views
What does Judaism think about homosexuality?
Is being gay a sin? Can one be a Jew and a gay person at the same time? How does the Jewish community think about gays?
13
votes
5answers
492 views
Anyone who says these people sinned is mistaken. For real?
The Gemara (Talmud Bavli Shabbos 55b-56b) relates that several Biblical figures who, from the text itself, seemed to have sinned, in reality did not. These statements take the form of "כל האומר פלוני ...
12
votes
4answers
1k views
Why don't Jews sacrifice animals anymore?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Jews do not currently sacrifice animals like ancestors long ago. Why do Jews not currently sacrifice animals? Will there be a time when sacrificing returns once again? How ...
11
votes
11answers
1k views
How can I curb my sexual desire?
I am looking for the best and most practical suggestion as to what a man can do to curb his yetzer hara (evil inclination) for sexual desire. Please provide sources for why your answer should be ...
11
votes
4answers
846 views
If masturbation is so bad, why is it not in list of 613 Mitzvos?
If masturbation is, as stated in the Shulchan Oruch (Even HaEzer 23:1), "the worst sin in the Torah", then why is it not listed in any of the various lists of 613 Mitzvos and why is there no verse in ...
11
votes
2answers
282 views
Does a convert have a clean slate?
When a non-jew converts to Jusaism, must he still do teshuva from past sins, or does the "reborn" concept stretch far enough to consider him "sinless"?
11
votes
3answers
218 views
Do people have an effect on the mood of God?
If a person commits idolatry or fornication he is sinful. Not only that, but the curse of Hashem is with that person. On the other hand, if a person does a lot of mitswots (commandments) and believes ...
11
votes
3answers
169 views
Asei Doche Lo Sasei vs. Mitzvah Habaah Beaveirah
These are two concepts in Judaism:
עשה דוחה לא תעשה - that if there is a Mitzvah Asei in the Torah, and a Mitzvas Lo Sasei, we say that the Asei overrides the Lo Sasei, and one should do it.
For ...
10
votes
2answers
183 views
Could someone who has committed a heinous crime convert to Judaism?
Is there any reason that someone who has committed horrible sins in the past (for example, mass murder) could not become a Jew? Assume, of course, that the sinner/criminal is willing to do teshuvah ...
10
votes
1answer
89 views
Can one take any money offered to him?
Is a tzedaka allowed to take money from people who earn their money in inappropriate way (say, the person worked on Shabbos, stole, cheated, etc.)
If not, is this a chumra or a halacha?
Please ...
8
votes
2answers
659 views
What is Maris Ayin?
What is the precise definition of Maris Ayin, and to what cases does it apply? (i.e. what are the parameters for applying it)
7
votes
5answers
190 views
Are there unforgiveable sins?
If parents have committed atrocious sins against their children such as incest, physical abuse, drugging, etc. is it considered an unforgiveable sin?
7
votes
1answer
110 views
Wedding Day Forgiveness
I heard that all a person's sins are forgiven on one's wedding day.
Is this true?
What is the source?
Does it also apply to sins committed between man and his fellow (as opposed to man and G-d)?
...
7
votes
1answer
85 views
In what way was Niniveh wicked?
What was so especially "wicked" about Niniveh that Jonah would have to go there?
Were they wicked in that they worshiped different god(s)? This is pretty much what every other country did.
Were they ...
7
votes
1answer
392 views
Does casual sex establish a marriage?
Do premarital sexual relations effect Kiddushin (betrothal/first step of Jewish marriage) if there is no intention of getting married?
If so, is the physical act itself determinative of whether or ...
7
votes
1answer
81 views
Paying bill for aveirah already done
Is one allowed to pay a service fee for an aveirah which someone else has already done, in order to get some other good or service now? The case I had in mind is an animal adoption where the agency ...
6
votes
3answers
132 views
Good inclination or evil inclination in the womb?
The Posuk says:
ויתרוצצו הבנים בקרבה (בראשית כה, כב)
To which Rashi comments:
כשהיתה עוברת על פתחי תורה של שם ועבר יעקב רץ ומפרכס לצאת, וכשהיתה עוברת על פתחי עבודה זרה עשיו מפרכס לצאת
...
6
votes
2answers
158 views
What is Zimri's sin?
Note: This is Zimri that was speared by Phinehas for sleeping with a foreigner.
Wikipedia says that he committed idolatry. However, the Bible only mentions that he slept with a foreign woman. Nothing ...
6
votes
2answers
162 views
Can you sell your sins?
Can someone who has done an Aveira pay someone to transfer the punishment to him?
6
votes
1answer
97 views
Working in a Potentially Sinful Industry
I work for a company that provides a service that is considered morally objectionable by some Rabbis (see Gambling at casino). The work I do is generic, in that the output could potentially be used to ...
6
votes
1answer
73 views
If a father has to carry his sons aveiros why not his mitzvos?
If a father must carry the sins & punishments of his son (under bar mitzva) as we know he does from the brocha of "Baruch Shepatrani Meonshin shel zeh" does he — and if not, why doesn't he — ...
6
votes
2answers
113 views
Does the mitzvah to return a lost object apply to aveirah items?
I recently saw a flyer that quoted from R' Chaim Kanievsky, Shlita as saying that if one find a smartphone that is not "kosher" there is no mitzvah obligation to return it. Is this in fact the ...
5
votes
3answers
456 views
Do Jews think that all the unbelievers would go to hell someday?
I wonder whether Judaism teaches that those unbelievers or those who are Jews but nevertheless lead a sinful life would go to hell someday when judgement time comes.
5
votes
4answers
177 views
Why does there seem to be different standards for future sinners?
In Bereshit (21:17) Rashi tells us that the Angels wanted G-d to kill Yishmael, but G-d said that He wouldn't judge him according to his future deeds, but rather according to his present state:
In ...
5
votes
1answer
64 views
Why was Hosea acceptable to the people if he took his adulterous wife back?
Hosea is described by Rabbi Yochanan in Pesachim 87a as the greatest of the four major prophets. At G-d's command (Hosea 1:2), he married a prostitute, Gomer, and fathered children, although there ...
5
votes
1answer
55 views
Safek yehareg v'al yaavor
If there is a situation in which you aren't sure whether you are required to give up your life, do you give up your life or not?
The most simple example would be if someone doesn't know whether ...
5
votes
0answers
153 views
If a person isn't sure he is Jewish, does he have to keep Mitzvot?
Let's say that a person has a reason to think his mother might be Jewish (there is some evidence, but only a little), and it is likely that the person will never be able to know for sure. In such a ...
4
votes
2answers
166 views
selling non-tznius clothing
Could selling non-tznius clothing in a clothing store be considered mesaye le-dvar aveira?
4
votes
1answer
97 views
Shavuos, why celebrate?
The original Matan Torah — meaning, when we celebrate Shavuos — is the time when we mistakenly thereafter served the Golden Calf. Why would we celebrate that day? It is equivalent to celebrating after ...
4
votes
1answer
103 views
Stealing one or one Hundred
I wanted to Know any SOURCES and their answers as to if I steal 1 dollar or one hundred dollars is it the same Sin or is it different? Is it one sin of stealing or one Hundred? When you are punished ...
4
votes
2answers
131 views
Where does the concept of bitul Torah come from?
It is a positive commandment to learn Torah. But the concept of bitul Torah seems to imply that it is also a negative commandment not to learn Torah. Where does this concept of bitul Torah come from?
...
4
votes
1answer
121 views
Can a shul give an aliyah to an openly gay Jewish man when it gives aliyah to people who violate Shabbos?
In a Young Israel shul I've attended, the rabbi would not allow the gabbaim to give Jewish men an aliyah if there is reason to believe that the person is openly gay (and acts on his inclination), ...
4
votes
2answers
125 views
Why does David say that he only sinned against G-d?
In Psalm 51:6 David says that
"Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Thy sight" (JPS)
I wondered why does he think that he sinned only against the Lord? I think he ...
4
votes
1answer
118 views
Do you have to listen to angels?
Does one now (or ever in the past) have to listen to the instructions of an angel? If so, would that include listening if the angel told you to violate a Torah commandment (either temporarily or ...
3
votes
3answers
599 views
Homosexuality is “worse than murder”?
A sign at a recent rally protesting New York's 2011 Marriage Equality Act reads
Judaism considers male homosexuality a worse sin than murder
I imagine that this is a minority opinion, but does ...
3
votes
2answers
104 views
“But Rahab the harlot … dwelt in the midst of Israel, unto this day”
This is from Yehoshua' 6:25.
Assuming she was a harlot and not, as some suggest, an innkeeper, what exactly does this mean? Did she convert? Did her conversion remove the stain of being a harlot from ...
3
votes
4answers
140 views
How did Hashem hide the light from the wicked? What do Chazal mean by this?
Rashi says in Breaishis Chapter 1, Verse 4:
אף בזה אנו צריכים לדברי אגדה ראהו שאינו כדאי להשתמש בו רשעים והבדילו לצדיקים לעתיד לבא.
"Even this requires words of Aggadah, He saw that it was not fit ...
3
votes
1answer
60 views
What is an outsider's obligation if abuse is suspected?
What obligation does an outsider (non-family member) have if she or he suspects that there is abuse in another family? Does it matter if the abused party denies the allegation? What if the abused ...
3
votes
1answer
73 views
Why did David's kingdom split if he didn't sin?
According to one opinion in the Gemara (Bab. Shab. 56b), the reason David's kingdom split was because he sinned by believing Lashon HaRa'. According to another opinion, though, he never sinned at all. ...
3
votes
2answers
81 views
Specific punishments for specific sins
I am aware that the concept of reward and punishment is difficult, and often requires a complex understanding. However, there are places where the Mishna or Gemara claims a specific punishment for a ...
3
votes
1answer
83 views
Why was Shimshon viewed positively?
There is no indication in the text that the Jews were aware that Shimshon was secretly waging a one-man war against the Plishtim. From outward appearances it would seem that a former shofet of the ...
2
votes
1answer
147 views
Giving away coupon to non-kosher restraurant
Can a "kosher eating only" Jew who receives a coupon for a free meal at a non-kosher restraurant give that coupon to another jew, even if they don't keep kosher?
I know you are not making them go and ...
2
votes
3answers
102 views
Punishment for mitzvos asey?
Are you punished from Hashem if you don't do a mitzvah asey (brachos, davening, asher yatzar, etc.)?
2
votes
1answer
89 views
Dreaming of doing a sin
Inspired by Why was Hosea acceptable to the people if he took his adulterous wife back?
If one were to dream while sleeping of him or herself doing any sort of sin, is it a sin? (sources)
2
votes
2answers
174 views
Issur Kolel What is it?
What is Issur Kolel in the context of "AIN ISSUR CHAL AL ISSUR" I heard two people talking about the concept please illustrarte with example and explain the illustration of the example?
Edit by ...
2
votes
1answer
84 views
What is Issur Moisef?
What is Issur Moisef I heard two people talking about this concept in the context of "AIN ISSUR CHAL AL ISSUR" please illustrate with example?
2
votes
1answer
100 views
Why is the period of Shovavim connected to tikkun habris?
Please see this question and answers for background information.
What is the reason that the period of Shovavim is used to address tikkun habris (sexual sins)? Why is this time period auspicious for ...
2
votes
2answers
94 views
Why is hell termed Gehinnom?
Why is the place that that wicked are punished for their sins after death termed Gehinnom? Is there is an association with Gei ben Hinnom where idolatry was performed? If so why was this place singled ...
2
votes
1answer
56 views
Why is the son of אסנ״ת משגע״ח called a sinner?
The Bavli, N'darim 20:2, reads:
וברותי מכם המורדים והפושעים בי אמר רבי לוי אלו בני תשע מדות בני אסנ״ת משגע״ח בני אימה בני אנוסה בני שנואה בני נידוי בני תמורה בני מריבה בני שכרות בני גרושת הלב בני ...
