I’m not a big believer in coincidences so I am not surprised that dappim TB Kidushin 39 and 40 discuss reward and punishment right before Yom Kippur. The Gemara discusses whether God rewards and punishes in this world or delays it until the next world without coming to a clear conclusion.
If the scale is completely balanced and one observes the following five
mitzvot: honoring one’s father and mother, acts of loving kindness, hospitality toward guests, and bringing peace between one person and another; and Torah
study, these five mitzvot tip the scale in our favor. “Rav Shemaya said:
The mishna (in massekhet Peah-gg) serves
to say that if one’s sins and merits were of equal
balance, i.e., he has accrued an equal amount of merit and sin, one of these
mitzvot tilts the scale in his favor.” (Sefaria.org translation) Idolatry is the gravest sin and will tip the
scale against us even when the scales are equally balanced. “Rav Aḥa bar
Ya’akov said: That is written with regard to idol worship, as the Master says:
Idol worship is very severe, as anyone who denies it is like one
who admits the truth of the entire Torah. Conversely, one who
embraces idolatry is considered to have rejected the entire Torah. Due to the
severity of idol worship, one is punished even for contemplating this
transgression.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Since none
of us can make a perfect account of our lives and declare that the scales are
equally balanced, daf TB Kidushin 40 gives
us good advice how we should view ourselves during these 10 days repentance
leading up to Yom Kippur.
“The
Sages taught: Always a person should
view himself as though he were exactly half-liable and half-meritorious.
In other words he should act as though the plates of his scale are balanced, so
that if he performs one mitzva he is fortunate, as he tilts his balance to
the scale of merit. If he transgresses one prohibition, woe to him, as
he tilts his balance to the scale of liability, as it is stated: “But
one sin destroys much good” (Ecclesiastes 9:18), which means that due to
one sin that a person transgresses he squanders much good.
“Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says: Since the world is judged by its majority, i.e., depending on whether people have performed a majority of mitzvot or a majority of sins, and an individual is likewise judged by his majority, each person must consider that if he performs one mitzva he is praiseworthy, as he tilts the balance of himself and the entire world to the scale of merit. Conversely, if he transgresses one prohibition, woe to him, as he tilts the balance for himself and the entire world to the scale of liability, as it is stated: “But one sin destroys much good,” i.e., due to one sin that this individual commits, he squanders much goodness from himself and from the entire world.” (Sefaria.org translation)
I can think of no better mitzvah than giving tzedakkah during these 10 days of
repentance as an example of the positive impact a mitzvah can have on the
balance sheet of our lives and the fate of the world around us.
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