If you had to choose the four greatest Jewish people of all time, who would you choose? Most people would probably say Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and Moshe. In the Gemara Shabbos, a very interesting statement is made: There were four people that died only because of Adam’s sin of eating the fruit of the tree (which brought death to the world): Binyamin (Yaakov’s son), Amram (Moshe’s father), Yishai (Dovid’s father), and Kalev (Dovid’s son). These four people’s sins were so small that they did not deserve to be judged for them. These people were so perfect that they should not have passed away, but due to the fact that everyone must pass away, they had to die. The question is obvious: why are these four men not looked at as the pillars of our religion? Why are Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and Moshe looked at as our greatest when Binyamin, Amram, Yishai, and Kalev were perfect people?

The answer can be found in a statement in the Gemara: the place where a Ba’al Tshuvah (master of repentance) stands, a perfect tzaddik cannot stand. These four individuals might have lived perfectly righteous lives, but a person that is perfect never has to improve himself. When Yom Kippur came around, they did not have to try to make themselves better because it was impossible to be better. Being perfect is certainly a great level to be able to achieve, but there is even a higher level. If a person does something wrong and properly repents, then they are even greater than a perfect person. The more a person does something, the more of a desire a person has for that thing. This is especially true with sins. Therefore, the ba’al tshuvah has a large desire to commit a sin, but then overcomes that desire. If someone always does something right, it is easy for them to avoid sin, but someone who transgressed terrible sins and overcomes them is truly great.

Avraham symbolizes a person that was able to overcome terrible sins. Avraham was born into a society that was full of sinful ways and he even performed terrible sins. Avraham worshipped idols, which is one of the three most horrible sins a person could commit. If you met Avraham in his younger years, you would never think he would amount to anything in the Jewish world. He probably would have been thrown out of the yeshiva. But he repented. He strengthened himself and fought his yetzer hara (evil desires) to follow the right path. As he did this, he grew spiritually stronger and the rest is basically history: he became one of the pillars of our religion.

If you are a sinner, do not lose hope. Even if you have committed terrible crimes, do not lose hope. You can still do tshuvah and by doing tshuvah not only will you get rid of the sin. By doing tshuvah a person becomes an extremely great person. We certainly should not look to sin, but if we have sinned, we have a great opportunity to grow. Unfortunately, many people become very depressed after they sin. A person should never forget that the greatest Jewish leaders, including Avraham, sinned. They became great people, though, because they did not become depressed after the sin; they did tshuvah. A person that does tshuvah is great! Don’t ever give up hope!

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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