Midrash Yalkut Shimoni on Psalms 25

The concept of "reward and punishment" is one of the thirteen principles of Jewish faith. But punishment for wrongdoing, say our sages, is no more G-d's "revenge" than falling to the ground is divine retribution for jumping out the window or frostbite G-d's punishment for a barefoot trek in the snow. Just as the Creator established certain "laws" of cause and effect that define the natural behavior of the physical universe, so too, did He establish a spiritual-moral "nature", by which doing good results in a good and fulfilling life, and evil deeds result in negative and strifeful experiences. This is the philosophical perspective on sin and punishment, expressed by King Solomon in the above quoted verse from Proverbs. "Evil pursues iniquity" - the adverse effects of sin are the natural consequences of acts that run contrary to the Creator's design for life.

Prophecy, which is G-d's enabling of man to cleave to and commune with Him, has a deeper insight into the significance of sin. The essence of life is connection with G-d. So a transgression is more than a spiritually "unhealthy" deed - it is an act of spiritual suicide. In the words of the prophet Ezekiel, "the soul that sins, it shall die" - to transgress the divine will is to sabotage the lifeline of vitality that connects the soul to its source.

The Torah has yet a more penetrating perspective on the dynamics of transgression. It too, recognizes that the essence of a person's life is his relationship with G-d. But the Torah also perceives the superficiality of evil - the fact that "a person does not sin, unless a spirit of insanity enters into him." The soul of man, which is "literally a part of G-d above," neither desires, nor is able, to separate itself from G-d." It is only a person's animal self - the material and selfish drives which overlay his G-dly soul - that might, at times, take control of his life and compel him to act in a manner that is utterly at odds with his true self and will.

Because the Torah perceives the superficiality of sin, it can guide the transgressor through a process by which he can undo the negative effects of his transgression - a process by which the transgressor recognizes the folly and self-destructiveness of his deed, and reinstates him true, G-dly self as the sovereign of his life. This process culminates with the transgressor's bringing of a korban (animal sacrifice) as an offering to G-d, signifying his subjugation of his own animal self to the spark of G-dliness within him.

Thus the guilt-offering, and the internal "animal sacrifice" it reflects, achieve atonement for sin. Only the most external self was involved in the transgression in the first place; by renouncing the deed as "animal behavior" and subjugating the beast within to serve the soul's G-dly aims, the transgressor restores the integrity of his relationship with the Almighty.

The Essence of Evil

There is one thing, however, that these three perspectives on sin have in common: the transgression is, and remains, a negative phenomenon. "Wisdom" sees it as the harbinger of evil in a person's life; "prophecy" sees it as antithetical to life itself; Torah delves deeper yet, revealing the self never touched by the transgression and thus providing the key to the transgressor's rehabilitation; but even after the atonement prescribed by the Torah, the transgression itself remains a negative event. Torah itself defines certain deeds as contrary to the divine will; so nothing in Torah can change the fact that, at the time that it was committed, the transgression constituted a betrayal of the relationship between G-d and man.

G-d, however, is beyond all that. Ultimately, "sin" and "virtue" are of equal insignificance to Him - obviously, no human deed could possibly add to or detract from His perfection. In the words of the verse, "If you sin, how have you affected Him? If your transgressions are many, what have you done to Him? If you are righteous, what do you give Him? What can He receive from you?" G-d commanded us the mitzvot solely for our sake: He made that certain deeds should constitute His "desire" and "will", in order to enable us to introduce something of His eternity, harmony and perfection into our temporal, fragmented and imperfect existence; and He forbade us the transgressions, at the same time making us vulnerable to their enticements, in order to provide us with the potential for even greater achievement: the potential for teshuvah, "return".

Teshuvah, in its ultimate sense, is the transformation of past misdeeds and failings into a force for good. When a person recognizes the spiritual devastation his sins have wreaked upon his soul, and then proceeds to channel the frustration and despair that such realization brings into an intense longing to reconnect with his divine source and quintessential self, he has, in effect, reached back in time to redefine the significance of transgression. Instead of distancing him from his Creator, his past transgressions now have the very opposite effect, having been exploited to fuel a yearning for G-d far more powerful than any he might have experienced in a lifetime of unwavering righteousness. This is G-d's perspective on transgression: transgression as the facilitator of teshuvah. Wisdom, prophecy and Torah are all part of a reality polarized by good and evil; they can perceive only the damage inflicted by sin, or, at most (as in the case of Torah), the manner by which it might be undone. G-d's reality, however, is wholly and exclusively good; from His perspective, there is only the positive essence of transgression - the positive purpose for which He created man's susceptibility to evil and his capacity for sin in the first place. As viewed by its Creator, transgression is the potential for a deeper bond between Himself and man - a bond borne out of the transformation of evil into good and folly into achievement.

Based on the Rebbe's works and talks, including a letter dated Tishrei 8, 5712 (October 8, 1951)