parsha of the week

Love the sinner, hate the sin

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Chapter 18 of the Book of Vayikra contains a number of negative mitzvot — things we are not supposed to do. Many of the negative actions are labeled to’evot — an interesting word which has many possible meanings: abomination, perversion, disgusting perversion, taboo.

In this chapter, the Torah lists a number of deeds that fit into this category of to’evah, but remains consistent in labeling the deed, not the person engaging in the act.

The comparison is made several times to the inhabitants of Egypt and Canaan, who were guilty of these things, while the deeds of the Canaanites were specifically utilized to prove why they did not deserve to remain in the land bearing their name. A warning is issued that those who follow the ways of these activities will be cut off from the Israelite nation (18:29).

Some of the commentaries (including Ramban and Rabbeinu Bachaye) write of three types of karet — excision from the nation.

The following is Ramban’s take:

There are three methods of karet. The first type of karet references someone who is generally righteous but who stumbled in giving way to a karet-inducing sin. He might die young, but his soul will remain intact.  This person will have a share in the World to Come.

The second type of karet references someone who is sinful in life. This individual does not die young, but the soul is cut off from any next-world experience.

The third type experiences karet on two different levels, in body and in soul. This aspect of karet is limited to one who commits idolatry or blasphemy. The Talmud in Shavuot extends this punishment to one who throws off the yoke of Heaven and speaks mockingly of the Torah.

Ramban’s analysis continues. He speaks of the different ramifications for the soul and body, some of the other definitions of karet, and what kinds of repercussions a person can experience in this world and in the next. While some definitions do include an impact on the body, most focus solely on the experience of the soul, especially after death.

All of which leads me to a simple conclusion. In Jewish life, there are very specific directions of behavior that warrant a person being unwelcome in the community. At the highest level, that of karet, the person’s sins need to be so grave, so beyond the pale, that the person might either die young at the hands of G-d (or in some instances, beit din), or the person’s soul is dealt with in the Heavenly Realm, by a divine creature — possibly G-d Himself, as opposed to His angel.

There is no question that the “behaviors” described in this passage, Vayikra 18, are abhorrent or detestable to G-d in one way or another. But does committing these sins always warrant being judged by the community? Being ostracized? What if a person hasn’t committed a sin at all, but doesn’t conform to a community’s standards?

I believe  Torah’s deliberate language choice is teaching us a dictum championed by Bruriah in the Talmud: hate the sin, love the sinner.

We don’t always have to agree with the things people do, or the way they choose to live their lives. But particularly when the choices people make are not criminal at all, and certainly not against the Torah’s rules, at most our right is to privately object, while publically embracing the Jew.

Accepting the person while not condoning the behavior is an important distinction in Jewish communal living. The Torah gives us this instruction when it comes to facing the reality of our fellow Jews committing “Torah crimes” we might abhor or find detestable. At the very least, a similar standard should be held for those who look and live differently than we do, but who are nevertheless fellow Jews who have a different way.