Are we all sinners?

Rabbi Philip Weintraub

Congregation Agudas Israel

Sometimes I feel that there are so many details in Jewish law that it is impossible to follow them all. Nobody can. So everybody fails at something (at least) sometime. Are we then all "sinners"? How can we live with constant failure?

Below is my answer. At the link are three other rabbinic perspectives!

http://www.jewishvaluescenter.org/question.php?id=1057&cprg=%2Fsearch.php%3Fsearchtxt%3Dsinners%26what%3DA

In many ways, I think this is one of the classic questions of life, law and Judaism.  How can we live with constant failure?

I think the classic answer is another question: is the glass half full or half empty?  Do we look at this as constant failure or constant success?  

The ritual mitzvot are essential to our lives.  Keeping kosher, observing Shabbat and festivals, praying regularly bring great meaning to our souls.  They structure our lives and help us find balance in a world always leading towards excess.  They teach us that we are most happy when we are happy with what we have, but also remind us that there is always more we can strive for--not just materially but spiritually.  Many of these mitzvot we might classify as bein adam l’Makom, between a person and GD.

Yet there is another entire section of mitzvot--those bein adam l’chavero, between an individual and his friend.  This includes vast sections of Jewish law--business ethics, familial ethics, sexual ethics, and more general interpersonal relationships.  Jewish law teaches us that we must be honest in our business dealings (that we are forbidden to have two sets of weights and measures--or two sets of books).  We are commanded to love our neighbors and not to stand idly by if they are in danger.  Jews are to treat one another with respect.  In all of these departments, we probably fulfill many mitzvot we never even knew were mitzvot!  

Whenever someone introduces him or herself to a rabbi, the introduction often continues, “but I’m not religious.”  I’ve heard this from doctors and garbage collectors, lawyers and airline ticket agents.  Yet, many people picked careers that match their Jewish values.  Reproductive specialists help couples fill the command to “be fruitful and multiply.”  Lawyers are advocates for the poor and those that need help.  Garbage collectors remove that which is disgusting from our homes, allowing us to pray and eat in places that do not smell terribly.

To be technical, we do all sin at times, but we also do many, many more mitzvot.  In the Aseret Hadibrot, the Ten Commandments, it says that Gd visits iniquity to the third and fourth generation of those that hate GD, but shows mercy for a thousand generations to those that love GD and keep the commandments.  In GD’s great mercy, we are given opportunity to atone--every day and on Yom Kippur.  We acknowledge our shortcomings, reminding GD that we are imperfect and must be judged on the scale of the imperfect.  

I want to end with two Hassidic tales:

A chassid once asked his rebbe, "why should wepray on Yom Kippur, after all, we will inevitably sin again." In response, the rebbe asked him to look out the window behind him. Outside there was a toddler who was just learning to walk. "What do you see?" asked the rebbe. The disciple replied, "I see a child, standing and falling," Day after day the chassid returned to witness the same scene. At the week’s end, the child stood and did not fall. The child’s eyes expressed the achievement of having attained the impossible. "So with us," said the rebbe. "We may fail again and again, but in the end, a loving God gives us the opportunities we need to succeed."

Another classic story. Reb Zusha was on his death bed, and he had tears streaming down his face. "Why are you crying?" asked his disciples. "If God asks me why I was not like Moses or Maimonides," answered Reb Zusha, "I will say, I was not blessed with that kind of leadership ability and wisdom." But I am afraid of another question," continued Reb Zusha, "what if God asks, Reb Zusha, why weren’t you like Reb Zusha? Why did you not find your inner being and realize your inner potential? Why didn’t you find yourself? That is why I am crying!"

Of the 613 mitzvot, many require the Temple, the ability to offer sacrifices.  For those, we have alternate paths, we remember the Temple, we recite the sacrifices.  Yet there are other mitzvot that we can fulfill.  We must continue to try to fulfill all the ones we can.  We must continue to try to be the best people we can be.  We must treat each other with love and respect.  We must remember that we will fail, but like the toddler, we must get up again and keep trying.  Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity!  The glass is half full.