I was going through the Book of Leviticus, and came upon some interesting rules I had seen before, but this time I paid closer attention, and this is what I found out: you are not always guilty when you sin.

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In Leviticus 4 (I always quote from the CJB), God starts off by explaining what must be done when anyone sins inadvertently against the mitzvot (laws) of Adonai. Now, isn’t this interesting? God doesn’t say when someone sins, but when they do so inadvertently, i.e., by accident.

It seems to me that God expects us to want to obey him, and when we don’t, it must be by accident.

God goes on to say that if the community sins, but is unaware of it, they are still guilty. It is when their sin becomes known that they are expected to perform the sacrifices to be cleansed, and forgiven. The same rule applies to a community leader.

Now, what is again interesting is when we get to Chapter 5, and it talks about when a person is unclean but unaware of it. If they become unclean by an unclean animal, they are guilty right away, but if it is an unclean human, they are not guilty until they learn that the person was unclean. This makes sense to me- you know which animals are unclean (Lev. 11) and that we aren’t to touch dead animal carcasses, etc., so when you do, you have to know what you did.

But who can tell if a person is unclean or not, unless they tell you?

Also, if someone says something sinful but doesn’t remember doing it, he is not guilty until he is made aware of what he said.

Here is something you may not know: the male members of an Orthodox Jewish sect are sometimes accused of being misogynistic because they refuse to shake hands with a woman, or to give her change from a dollar, or anything that involves touching. The truth is that they never know when a woman might be unclean due to her time of Niddah (menstruation). Since woman today don’t go around proclaiming in a loud voice, “Unclean! Unclean!”, a person who is obedient to the Torah really shouldn’t shake hands or touch a woman, or anything she touches.

And, if a woman offered her hand to an Orthodox Jew, I think it goes without saying that he won’t ask her, “By the way, are you menstruating?”

The Torah goes on to say that when someone is made aware of these “not guilty yet” sins, then they are considered guilty, must confess their sins and perform the cleansing activities.

I see these conditions of guilty immediately, or not until made aware, like the difference between committing a federal offence or a local misdemeanor. You are guilty of doing it, but God knows that you may not be aware and, as such, waits until you are made aware, after which you will then be considered guilty and must do what needs to be done to be forgiven.

Ultimately, we are always guilty when we sin, no matter which sin it is, and whether we know it or not, but (for lack of a better term) with the lesser sins, we have some leeway, in that we aren’t considered guilty until we know what we did.

Ignorance is not freedom from the law, but it does give us a chance to do what is right when we learn of it. The important thing, I believe, is to know what is a sin and what is not, and the only way to know that is to become very familiar with God’s Torah.

If I may share what I do, every morning when I pray, I ask God to forgive me of whatever sins I may have committed that I am not aware of. I do this as my system of CYT (Cover Your Tuchas), and ask not only that God forgive me, but also that he strengthen me through his Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to sin less in the future.

I am not sharing this with you to appear holy or anything like that, but because I think it is a really good idea, and that everyone should do it.

Finally, I just want to remind you all how compassionate and understanding God is, in that he knows we are weak and that we might do something wrong, without really meaning to or even knowing that we did. When he says, in Ezekiel 18:23, that he doesn’t want to see anyone die, but rather do t’shuvah (turn from their sins), and live, he made that possible through these rules, way back at Mt. Sinai.

One last point… when we sin against the mitzvot, i.e., the major commandments which incorporate the Big 10, the ones specified in Leviticus 11 and 23, as well as most every other law regarding how to worship God and how to treat each other, we are guilty immediately. I suppose that should resonate with those who sin, knowing they are sinning, and are still unrepentant.

And if your religion teaches you that you don’t have to obey the Torah, that is a sin, and not an inadvertent sin. The Torah came from God, and was given to the Jews as his nation of priests (Ex. 19:6) to teach to the world, so if your man-made religion (which, in case you didn’t know, is every Christian denomination that exists today) tells you it is OK to ignore God’s laws, then you are guilty.

Not down the road, not until someone tells you that you are, but right NOW!

Thank you for being here, and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. After all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!