כי תצא
וְכִֽי־יִהְיֶ֣ה בְאִ֗ישׁ
חֵ֛טְא מִשְׁפַּט־מָ֖וֶת וְהוּמָ֑ת...
If there is in a man a sin with a
judgement of death, he is put to death…
This teaches
us that anyone guilty of such a severe sin that deserves death, he receives his
death. )The passuk is actually discussing סקילה, and the body afterward is impaled upon a
post to serve as a lesson for others.)
The Gaon of
Vilna asks about the linguistics of the passuk.
·
First of all, should it not have stated וכי יעשה איש – If a man would do a
crime deserving of death? Why does it say “If there is in a man a
sin”?
·
Secondly, we all are familiar with the term חטא that it refers to a שוגג – a sin done
accidentally. But such a sin is never deserving of death! The passuk should
have written עוון - an intentional sin!
·
Thirdly, why does the Torah have to mention וְהוּמָ֑ת - that he is put to death, isn’t that obvious, that if he is
guilty of the death penalty that he must receive it?
He answers
as follows: The Torah is speaking about a person who intentionally did a sin
deserving death, however, quite certainly on his way to the execution he surely
regrets the sin he committed! When someone regrets his sin out of fear, it
“downgrades” the severity of his intentional sin to that of a שוגג, an unintentional mistake. Therefore, the Torah writes if there
is IN A MAN the residual חטא (unintentional) from
what was originally an intentional sin deserving of death, he is
still put to death even though now the sin has downgraded. The reason for this
is because while the Heavenly Court perceives and accepts Teshuvah to minimize
a sin’s consequences, Bes Din on earth, does not have that ability. If, at the
time of sin it was fully intentional, they must punish accordingly no matter
how remorseful the sinner is when he stands before them.
This should
encourage us to take advantage of the opportunity we have now with time before
Rosh Hashana, in preparation for the Heavenly Court’s judgement. Our simple
remorse and regret - even if just out of fear of the impending judgement,
already lightens the case.
If we take
that a step further and focus on the loving relationship that is always
available from G-d’s end, yet we regretfully severed some of those ties and
foolishly sinned against our greatest benefactor, then the regret can reverse
the sin into a catalyst for an even closer bond with Hashem and counted as a
merit!