Ilan Asks: "How Can Thoughts Be Worse Than Sin?"

Hello. I would like to direct the question to Rabbi Daniel Bales, shlit'a. We learned in class that it is mentioned in one of the books (I don't remember which one), that a thought is worse than an actual deed. That is, if a person thinks about a sin, it is serious, but if he commits the act, it is less serious, yet the thought was much worse. Why is it so? In my opinion, if a person has two options: 1. To sin, 2. To think about the sin and not sining- it is better for him to choose the second way. Maybe we are wrong, but we will be happy to know what the rabbi says, thank you in advance!

Hello and blessings,

The words of ethics you heard were not meant literally. To what is this comparable? To saying: "A snake is worse than a lion, because it tends to attack a person indiscriminately, while a lion does not attack unless it is very hungry".

It is understood that factually, a lion is a much more dangerous creature than a snake. As is known, you cannot escape from a lion, nor can you fight it. However, there is one aspect where the snake is worse than the lion, and that is the fact that the snake strikes unexpectedly and indiscriminately.

The intention behind these words was to say, that there is one aspect where thought is more severe than the act: the length of time a person is immersed in the transgression. Because although the sin is much more severe (and one is punished for it!), once it is done, a person is "satiated" by it, and his soul is calmed from its involvement. Whereas someone who only thinks about the sin is preoccupied with it all day long without ever reaching "satiation", his thoughts about the sin accompany him for a very long time, much longer than the act itself. And it was said by the sages, a person is where his thoughts are.

However, there is no doubt that the sins a person commits are far more serious, as they corrupt the person, and therefore the person is liable for penalties of prohibitions, excision, and death, and is punished for their commission.

Another interpretation I found regarding your question is based on Maimonides:

Maimonides wrote in the Laws of Repentance that there is one aspect where lighter transgressions have a greater severity than heavier sins. In serious transgressions, a person knows he must repent and he regrets them greatly, and he is forgiven. But for "lighter" sins of thought and speech, a person does not think to repent, and he does not regret them as much, so these sins remain with him in the world to come, because he fails to repent for them! In this way, lighter sins like thoughts and speaking *lashon hara* possess a seriousness not found in heavier sins.

I also found a response on this matter written by Rabbi Ben Zion Mutzafi, shlit'a: "The commentators wrote that it is forbidden to think that the deed is preferable to the thought, heaven forbid it is, because the deed is punishable by death in the Torah, while the thought is not mentioned in the Torah. Rather, the sages said this with the intent that the thoughts of sins trouble him, and surely a sin with thought is the hardest of all."
Blessings,
Daniel Bales