4

I remember seeing a passage in Talmud Bavli saying something along the lines of: "every moment that a person sits and does not engage in sin, he is considered to be doing a mitzvah." I'm not able to find it again and looking for the tractate and the page.

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
11

Kiddushin 39b:

רמי רב טובי בר רב קיסנא לרבא תנן כל העושה מצוה אחת מטיבין לו עשה אין לא עשה לא ורמינהי ישב ולא עבר עבירה נותנים לו שכר כעושה מצוה אמר ליה התם כגון שבא דבר עבירה לידו וניצול הימנה

Rav Tuvi bar Rav Kisna raises a contradiction to Rava and asked: We learned in the mishna that anyone who performs one mitzva has goodness bestowed upon him. This indicates that if one actually performed the mitzva, yes, he is rewarded, but if he did not perform the mitzva, no, he does not receive a reward. He raises a contradiction based on the following statement: If one sits and does not transgress, he receives a reward as one who performs a mitzva, despite the fact that he does not actually perform a mitzva. Rava said to him: There, when it is referring to one who sits and does not transgress, it does not mean that he was merely sitting; rather, it is speaking of a case where an opportunity to commit a sinful act presents itself to him and he is saved from it.

Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    And this is a quote from Makkot 3:15
    – b a
    Jul 11, 2019 at 13:06

You must log in to answer this question.