Sometimes, the elements or ideas we gather and organize into a partzuf—a Kabbalistic model—have not been organized in the past. Although it may make a lot of sense to connect them with one another, it is always helpful to strengthen their connection through another type of analysis. For this week’s partzuf, we are going to look at the all-inclusive sins described in the Torah. These are the sins whose effects are still felt today, usually not just by the Jewish people, but by all of humanity. In addition, the strife or issue that caused them has yet to be remedied.
What is a Sin?
A sin is a test that has the potential to either reveal the essence of either the individual or a community or, if failed, to derail life and set it on a detour. Chassidut discusses the potential for revealing the essence in length in context of the verse, “For Havayah your God is testing you to know whether you love Havayah your God.” Since God already knows whether we love Him or not, the verse should be read as stating: “God is testing you so that you may know whether you love God.”
If it is an individual that sins because he or she fails the test, then their personal life is derailed. The remedy for a personal sin is confession, the most important part of doing teshuvah. Case in point is the account of Judah’s sin against his daughter-in-law, Tamar that appears in our parashah, parashat Vayeishev. When confronted by Tamar, Judah admits to his wrongdoing and says, “Indeed, she is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Sheilah.”
Judah’s descendant, King David, exemplifies the ability to confess to one’s sins. After being confronted by the prophet Nathan regarding his machinations against Uriyah the husband of Batsheba, David immediately confesses, “I have sinned to God.”
