[Avodah] worst aveirah

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Jan 06, 2011 at 09:14:23AM -0800, Saul.Z.Newman at kp.org wrote:
: i wonder if  we have  a WORST.   i thought   chillul  hashem is the worst. 
:  but  i have  also come  across shichvat  zera levatala  as the  worst  . 

There are multiple dimensions by which you can measure "worst".

Qal vachomer uses the number of activities restricted and the size of
the onesh. In which case, it would have to be a sin for which the
punishment is seqilah. Of them, perhaps chillul Shabbos, since a mumar
leShabbos kemumar lekhol haTorah kulah.

But none of the three yeihareig ve'al ha'avor are pushiable by seqilah.
They're clearly worse -- which means there must be another dimension
than that used by derashos miqal vachomer.

And since hevei zahir bemitzvah qalah kemitzvah chamurah, because you
don't know their rewards, it would seem that severity in terms of beis
din shel maalah is yet another axis by which one define "worse", even
if one can't actually measure along that axis.

LAD, the reason for ein atah yodea' matan sekharan shel mitzvos is because
it requires knowing the situation, and where one stands spiritually and
psychologically, in greater depth than a person is capable of knowing
himself.

HQBH judges "ba'asher hu sham", and thus if you can't know how an act
impacts who you are, you can't know the sekhar.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Man can aspire to spiritual-moral greatness
micha at aishdas.org        which is seldom fully achieved and easily lost
http://www.aishdas.org   again. Fulfillment lies not in a final goal,
Fax: (270) 514-1507      but in an eternal striving for perfection. -RSRH