[Avodah] WHAT DOES KAPARAH ACCOMPLISH?

[Zvi Lampel]

WHAT DOES KAPARAH ACCOMPLISH?

In the first perek of Hilchos Teshuvah, the Rambam teaches that different
kinds of sins carry different requirements for one to attain kaparah, and
that for different sins, the kaparah takes effect at different times.

The kinds of sins include failure to fulfill mitzvos of commission not
punishable by kares, prohibitions not punishable by execution or kares,
those that are, and chilul Hashem.
For all these sins, teshuvah is required to attain kaparah, but there are
additional requirements for some of them, such as afflictions, the
punishments by Beis Din, and death. And for some, the kaparah takes effect
immediately upon one's doing teshuva, or on Yom Kippur, or after a period
of afflictions, or (in the case of chilul Hashem) only after death.

>From the fact that in the last case kaparah comes only after one's death,
we can see that the Rambam's definition of kaparah is not release from
hardships in this world, but release from punishment in the Afterlife.

(The role of hardships vis a vis kaparah, when they are required, is not to
use up the punishment one deserves in this world and thereby go on to live
a pain free life--although that is a result--but to clear one from
punishment in the Afterlife.)

So it seems to me from the Rambam's presentation.

Zvi Lampel
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