Shlomo HaMelech, King Solomon, the wisest of all men declares in Koheles: “Ein Adam BaOlam Asher Ya’aseh Tov V’Lo Chata”. There is no man in this world who only does good things and does not sin”. In the course of life we interact with many people. Whether it be family, friends, co-workers, fellow students, sales people, the mail carrier,  the list goes on, we sometimes say something positive or, on occasion, negative to a person. Most people are good-natured and don’t say or do things to intentionally harm someone, but there is the rare time when hurtful or harmful words or actions  happen -  even intentionally and spitefully.

On another level there are times when we think we did something wrong or hurtful inadvertently, but those words or actions resulted in some very severe consequences, while other times we may have done something catastrophic but the action resulted  in minimal damage. Most of the time we are not privy to the aftermath of our actions, whether good or bad. Nevertheless, we should be aware of the fact that, particularly when we say or do something that we feel is insignificant, those words or action can still bear a heavy reaction and responsibility. We may not realize that a joke can sometimes be taken the wrong way. It may clearly be a misunderstanding in how the receiver of the ‘attack’ takes being the brunt of others’ laughter.  We must be extra sensitive to how they may feel it.

On a different note, it is not only the interactions we have with our fellow man that are impacted by intent;  the spiritual fulfillment of the commandments is also affected by our level of intent. A combination of the physical and spiritual harm that was done to Yosef by his brothers is of great proportion to how  it relates to the sins between man and man and man and Hashem.

In this week’s Parsha Vayechi the Torah states in Breishis 50:16-17: “Vay’Tzavu El Yosef Laymore, Avicha Tziva Lifnei Moso Laymore”. “They instructed messengers to tell Yosef: ‘Before he dies, your father gave us final instructions. He said: “Ko Tomru L’Yosef Ana Sah Nah Pesha Achecha V’Chatasam Ki Ra’ah G’Malucha V’Ata Sah Nah L’Pesha Avdei Elohei Avicha Vayevk Yoseg B’Dabram”. “Forgive the spiteful deed and the sin your brothers committed when they did evil to you, ‘Now forgive the spiteful deed that we the servants of your father’s God, have done”.

There are three descriptions of sins: Chataim/errors, Avonos/iniquities, and Peshaim/willful sins.  The Gemara Yoma 36a quotes the sages’ definition of the three levels or kinds of sins a person violates. Avonos are sins which are committed intentionally, Peshaim are the rebellious, willful sins and Chatas are accidental sins. Reb Yosef Chaim from Baghdad, in his sefer Ben Yehoyada, questions the order which the Chachamim/sages in the Gemara list these categories of sin. The order of sins from the less to the more severe are accidental sins (Chataim). For example, the person did not know that which they did was forbidden or they knew it was forbidden but did not realize that they had committed the sin. Iniquities (Avonos),  sins done intentionally but only as a result of desire, for example  knowing that eating non-kosher is not permitted, but knowingly ate the non-kosher food because they desired it. The third level which is by far the worst is Peshaim, sinning willfully as a sign of rebellion. The person is sinning to spite God even if he did not  necessarily want to do that act but did it anyway. 

Based upon severity of the sin, why does Yakov Avinu in his instructions and statement of the brothers to Yosef begin with the worst level of spiteful sin and then address the lower kind of sin called a Chet? Shouldn’t a Cheit, which is the least severe, be the starting point and then progress to the intentionally spiteful act?

In truth, the brother’s actions consisted of two wrongs when they sold Yosef. The first was the selling of his actual body as a slave, and the second was his Neshama/soul being sold as well. He wasn’t just sold as a slave but as a slave to the most decadent society where the nakedness of the land ruled! Egypt is described as the center of immorality. It was that type of a society that bred a woman like Potiphar’s wife who chased Yosef like a bear; Yosef  had to fight the greatest battle of his Yetzer Hora. If it wasn’t for the fact that Hashem was with Yosef to help him, the spiritual world as we know it would have been destroyed.

The evil and bad that is associated with the ‘nefesh’/soul is heavier, harsher, and bitter, a thousand times worse than any evil afflicted to the physical body. With this basis we can come to understand why the order of the words describing the ‘sin’ perpetrated against Yosef is correct. The brothers had sold Yosef as a slave thinking only in terms of his physical but not taking into account the spiritual detriment and extreme negative effect it will have on him. From their perspective selling Yosef ‘intentionally’ was a ‘Pesha’, which under traditional guidelines is the worst level sin. But in this case selling Yosef wasn’t the worst kind of sin because it only affected Yosef physically. In contrast, the spiritual harm that threatened him when they sold Yosef ‘accidentally’ was a far worse  crime. In the case of Yosef, the brothers only looked at the physical damage that would occur but not at the spiritual and therefore the intentional sin was less of an issue than the accident that resulted in a far worse spiritual state for Yosef.

The lessons drawn from the episode of Mechiras Yosef are multifold. The underlying message from me today is to be concerned with the after effects of our actions and statements. Even though we might be guilty of doing something by accident, it still may carry greater spiritual repercussions. Our actions don’t only have short term results;  quite often damage is done for a long time into the future as well. Let us always use caution prior to saying or doing something that potentially can cause damage and harm. If we failed to prevent ourselves from doing something wrong, then we need to examine the situation and correct the negative effects. Whether we did something intentionally, accidentally causing physical or spiritual damage, we must be extra careful, particularly with regard to recognizing and understanding the consequences of our deeds.

Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky