“Mistakes were made,” said the CEO as he discussed the illegal activity his company had been involved in. He looked regretful, yet he kept blame at arm’s length and couldn’t admit he had personally done anything wrong.
Some “mistakes” are just
mistakes: driving in the wrong direction, forgetting to set a timer and burning
dinner, miscalculating your checkbook balance. But then there are the
deliberate deeds that go far beyond—God calls those sins. The prophet Amos catalogs the sins of
the northern kingdom Israel. “Thus said the LORD:/ For three transgressions of Israel,/For
four, I will not revoke it:/Because they have sold for silver/Those whose cause was
just,/And the needy for a pair of sandals. /Trample the heads of the poor /Into the dust of the ground,/And make
the humble walk a twisted course!/Father and son go to the same girl,/And
thereby profane My holy name. /They recline by every altar/On garments taken in pledge,/And drink in
the House of their God/Wine bought with fines they imposed.”
(Amos 2:6-8)
Idolatry is one of the greatest sins a Jew can
transgress. In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa, Aaron took no personal
responsibility when the people built a golden calf to worship in the desert. He
explained to Moses, “[The people] gave me the gold, and I threw it into the
fire, and out came this calf!” (Ex. 32:24).
He might as well have muttered, “Mistakes were made.”
Sometimes it seems easier to blame someone else rather
than admitting our own failings. Equally dangerous is to try to minimize our
sin by calling it “just a mistake” instead of acknowledging its true nature.
But when we take responsibility and do teshuvah, repentance—acknowledging our
sin, confessing it, renouncing it, and where the sin is against a fellow human
being make reparations, God will forgive us just as he forgave our ancestors in
the desert so long ago when they sinned by worshiping that golden calf.
No comments:
Post a Comment