Study Kiddushin folio 40B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
יראה אדם עצמו כאילו חציו חייב וחציו זכאי. עשה מצוה אחת – אשריו, שהכריע עצמו לכף זכות, עבר עבירה אחת – אוי לו, שהכריע את עצמו לכף חובה, שנאמר: ״וחוטא אחד יאבד טובה הרבה״ – בשביל חטא יחידי שחטא אובד ממנו טובות הרבה.
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.
רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון אומר: לפי שהעולם נידון אחר רובו, והיחיד נידון אחר רובו, עשה מצוה אחת – אשריו, שהכריע את עצמו ואת כל העולם לכף זכות, עבר עבירה אחת – אוי לו, שהכריע את עצמו ואת כל העולם לכף חובה, שנאמר: ״וחוטא אחד כו׳״ – בשביל חטא יחידי שעשה זה אבד ממנו ומכל העולם טובה הרבה.
R' Elazar, son of R' 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.
רבי שמעון בן יוחי אומר: אפילו צדיק גמור כל ימיו ומרד באחרונה – איבד את הראשונות, שנאמר: ״צדקת הצדיק לא תצילנו ביום פשעו״. ואפילו רשע גמור כל ימיו ועשה תשובה באחרונה – אין מזכירים לו שוב רשעו, שנאמר: ״ורשעת הרשע לא יכשל בה ביום שובו מרשעו״.
R' Shimon ben Yoḥai says: Even if one was completely righteous all his life and he rebelled by sinning at the end of his life, he loses his early merit, as it is stated: “The righteousness of the righteous should not deliver him on the day of his transgression” (Ezekiel 33:12). And similarly, even if one was completely wicked all his life and repented in the end, he is no longer reminded of his wickedness, as it is stated in the continuation of the verse: “And as for the wickedness of the wicked, he should not stumble over it on the day that he turns from his wickedness.”