Hot answers tagged sin
19
Get married. This gives one the feeling of פת בסלו (bread in his basket) even when he is halachikaly forbidden to his wife. The Talmud says (Yevamos 63a) that a man should appreciate his wife simply for the fact that she saves him from sin.
Also, another piece of practical advice given to me by my Chosson Teacher was to go outside for a walk. It works. ...
11
The Rambam says (Issurei Biah 21:19):
וכן אסור לאדם שיביא עצמו לידי הרהור, אלא אם יבא לו הרהור יסיע לבו מדברי הבאי לדברי תורה שהיא אילת אהבים ויעלת חן.
It is forbidden for a person to bring himself to [sexual] thoughts. If a [sexual] thought comes to his mind, he should divert his heart from profligate and destructive matters to the words of Torah ...
8
The Rambam writes that it is considered cruel to repeatedly refuse to forgive someone who asks sincerely for forgiveness. Under normal circumstances if they ask once, twice and then a third time you must forgive them, or else you become the one in the wrong. They however do need to appease the wronged party and make amends as far as possible, such as ...
7
Jonah 3:8 - see Radak - says that the sin of Ninvei was Chamas - translated by many as robbery. We see similarly in Braishis 6:11 (or with English) by the Great Flood by Noach which came upon the world for that reason.
There are others that translate Chamas differently. However it was Chamas that was the reason why Hashem was ready to destroy Ninvai.
7
Premarital sexual intercourse is not a kinyan unless it is done with the intention of being koneh. Not only that, but the man must say as much. Rambam Hil Ishus 3:5 (my own translation):
ואם קידש בביאה אומר לה הרי את מקודשת לי או הרי את מאורסת לי או הרי את לי לאשה בבעילה זו וכל כיוצא בזה. ומתייחד עמה בפני שני עדים ובועלה
If he betroths (mekadesh) ...
7
Sort of. Rambam writes (Teshuvah 4:3):
To use translation on chabad.org (their additions in brackets, my one addition in {curly brackets}:
Among these [24 {sins which make repentance hard}] are five
[transgressions] for which it is impossible for the person who commits
them to repent completely. They are sins between man and man,
concerning which ...
7
The Gemara at Megillah 14b says that she converted, married Joshua, and that eight prophets who were also kohanim descended from her: Neriyah, Baruch, Serayah, Machsiyah, Yirmeyahu, Chilkiyah, Chanma'el and Shalom. According to the Gemara, Rachav and Joshua had no sons, but they did have daughters.
Given that history alone, the stain of her ...
6
Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 366:2 says that if someone stole money from an individual and does not know from whom he stole then he should use the money for the public good. Igros Moshe, Choshen Mishpat 1:88, says (in point 2) that one thing he can do is give the money to a mikve. Now, he does say (in point 14) that that should be done in a way that the ...
6
With regard to taking God's name in vain, the Chinuch (Mitzva 30) goes into great detail why it's forbidden, but basically
1) swearing unnecessarily in God's name shows that you have no respect or fear for the Master of the universe (and all the other attributes the Names of God encompass)
2) swearing falsely in God's name is forbidden because God is Emes ...
6
If you have a chance, listen to this fantastic lecture (mp3) by Rabbi Michael Broyde.
He discusses, for instance, a lawyer who does very boring, standard real-estate contracts, but his employer is a "men's entertainment company."
Inherently it's basically permissible; in most circumstances, it's questionable to what degree you're really facilitating ...
5
Actually, the father (and mother) do carry the Mitzvos; they get rewarded for their children's good deeds. Not only before but after their children's bar/Bat Mitzva as well.
And that is the reason for orphans saying Kaddish; every Mitzva they do is credited to their parents. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch recommends that a person's will should include the ...
5
Certainly not.
There is a Gemara (Berachos 57a) which mentions interpretations of various dreams, and many of them include doing a sin. For example:
הבא על נערה מאורסה יצפה לתורה שנאמר (דברים לג, ד) תורה צוה לנו משה
מורשה קהלת יעקב אל תקרי מורשה אלא מאורשה
If one dreams he has intercourse with a betrothed maiden, he may
expect to obtain ...
5
There are a number of verses that indicate that the covenant cannot be broken.
כִּי אֵל רַחוּם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לֹא יַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא יַשְׁחִיתֶךָ; וְלֹא יִשְׁכַּח אֶת-בְּרִית אֲבֹתֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לָהֶם. (דברים ד:לא)
For the LORD thy God is a merciful God; He will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy ...
4
A halachic source that bears on this is Rambam, Hil. Melachim 10:4 (from Sanhedrin 71b):
A gentile who converts after cursing G-d's name, worshipping false gods, engaging in relations with a colleague's wife, or killing a fellow gentile is exempt from punishment.
In contrast, if he converted after killing a Jew or having relations with a Jew's wife, ...
4
The tamei minhagmim brings down in the inyanay segulos, that a way to get rid of bad thoughts is to say this pasuk many times "Aish Tamid tukad al mizbeach lo tichbeh" (vayikra 6:5)
source:
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14556&st=&pgnum=578&hilite=
4
I don't know of any negative commandment per se, and as @DoubleAA pointed out in the comments, the term bitul does not imply that there is one. As for where the concept comes from, here's one place:
אַשְׁרֵי הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ
חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב. כִּי אִם בְּתוֹרַת
ה' חֶפְצוֹ ...
3
This question does not have an easy answer and it certainly depends upon which community you belong (e.g. Hasidic, Modern Orthodox, etc.). As an attorney and an officer of the court (in Pennsylavania and the District of Columbia), I have to first tell you that a witness to a crime has an on-going responsibility to report the crime. Failure to report could ...
3
Nitei Gavriel mentions in the name of the Arizal that since during these weeks we read the portions of the Torah starting from the enslavement in Egypt (where there was Tikun HaKeri of Adam HaRishon) until Ki Tsikne Eved Ivri.
3
Based on that Gemara it appears that there are two opinions regarding whether King David erred or not. According to the opinion that he did err, this shortcoming was the cause of the split in the kingdom and the ultimate exile while according to the opinion that he did not err the split in the kingdom must be attributed to some other cause.
Based on Kings ...
3
Radak gives two explanations: His own explanation is that since no one knew about the sin with Betshabe but G-d, he had only sinned to G-d, i.e. only G-d knew about it. Alternatively, he quotes Rabbi Saadiah Gaon that the verse means that to G-d alone he confessed his sin, even though he did sin to others.
3
To the best of my knowledge, there is no such thing as an unforgiveable sin. The 3 sins that are thought to be the "worst" are Murder, Idolatry, and Forbidden Relations. These are considered so severe that a Jew is commanded to let himself be killed rather than transgress them. (By contrast, every other sin can (and many times, must,) be violated to save ...
3
If by "unbelievers" you mean those who are not Jewish, then the answer is "no". The Talmud at Sanhedrin 105a says that the righteous of all nations shall have a place in the world to come. The question is "who is righteous?" As noted, a gentile who keeps the seven Noachide laws in all of their details is said to have attained the level of righteousness of ...
3
I have never found anything that works to curb the desire. The only thing that actually works, is a stronger desire to not act on your desires. Being distracted by something else might help you avoid the desire, but it really depends on how you relate to those other things for how well they will work. I can study Torah and still feel sexual desires, I can ...
3
See Exodus 19:17 which says that Bnei Yisroel were under the mountain. Rashi brings the Gemara (Shabbos 88a) and Midrash Yalkut Yisro that G-d literally lifted Har Sinai over the Jews' heads and said "if you accept the Torah, good, but if not, you will be buried there."
Why did G-d force the Bnei Yisroel to accept the covenant when they had already accepted ...
2
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Rebbi Nachman's tikkun haklali which many say as a preventative measure as well as a rectification. Furthermore the Noam Elimelech states that repeating the 7 names of the cannanite nations over and over as a mantra will aleviate sexual desire.
2
Paying for an Aveira that was already done, is probably not a problem - especially in this case where you did not request the Aveira to be done.
In הלכות איסורי מזבח פרק ד:יב the Rambam states that if you pay a harlot after the fact, the payment does not have the status of Ethnan and can be used as a Korban. This is true even if you agreed on a price and ...
2
I challenge your assumption that no one knew. Consider this episode (Judges 15:9-20):
9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves against Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said: 'Why are ye come up against us?' And they said: 'To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.' 11 Then three thousand men of ...
2
אכל דבר איסור, אף על פי שאינו אסור אלא מדרבנן, אין מזמנין עליו ואין מברכין עליו לא בתחלה ולא בסוף. (שולחן ערוך או"ח סימן קצו:א)
If one ate something prohibited, even if it was only prohibited rabbinically, one does not combine him to a zimmun, nor would he say a beginning or after blessing [on that food]. (Shulchan Aruch OC 196:1)
2
There's a dispute among the rishonim whether one may commit suicide rather than fall into the hands of those who would forcibly convert him to Christianity. See http://web.archive.org/web/20080924092609/http://www.math.wustl.edu/~msh210/crusade/suicide.html for a couple of the sources on this, though there are more.
Those rishonim who allow (even laud) ...
2
R' Shneur Zalman of Liadi writes in Iggeres HaTeshuva that
But even if one has incurred excision or death, there yet remains an impression within him of his Divine soul, and through this he may live until fifty (in the case of excision) or sixty years (in the case of death by divine agency), but no more.
In the next chapter, however, he says that
...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
