Power of Punishment & Peril of Pardon

In Parshat Toldot, we see that Rivka knew the truth. She knew that Yitzchak yearned to bring out the best in everyone. Nonetheless, giving Esau the chance to realize his potential by giving him the family blessing wouldn’t work.  

Rivka conspired with Ya’akov so that he would receive the blessings of the firstborn, blessings that Esau had already sold to Ya’akov. 

When it was time for Ya’akov to marry his beloved Rachel, it was Ya’akov who was deceived. His uncle Lavan conspired with Leah and Rachel to make sure the blessing of Yitzchak was passed to both his daughters by switching Rachel with Leah on Ya’akov’s wedding day.  

Some see it as a punishment for deceiving Esau.  

But wasn’t Ya’akov already entitled to this blessing that he purchased from Esau years prior?  

Hashem, in His love for His holiest souls, holds them to the highest standards in personal conduct so that they can cleanse themselves of all impurities to enter the greatest heavenly realms.  

Ya’akov was so sensitive to sin, that even after Hashem told him that He would protect him from Lavan, from Esau, and from want, poverty, and sickness, Ya’akov still pleaded with God to watch over him.  

Why?  

The Gemara, in tractate Brachot, states that Ya’akov feared that he might have sinned since Hashem had promised him Divine protection, but he lost those blessings.  

That’s the blessing of punishment. It keeps us in line. The fear of God guided Ya’akov to be even more stringent in His Torah and mitzvot – even as his dedication was tested by traveling outside the Land of Israel, balancing his life between working for Lavan, fathering four families, and dealing with the great challenge of massive wealth.  

Along with serving as a catalyst for Ya’akov to greater greatness, the “punishment” of being “deceived” into marrying Leah gave all of us Reuven, Shimon, the priestly class of Levi, the royal tribe of Yehuda, the Torah scholars of Issachar, and Zevulun.  

Everything Hashem does, even in meting justice through punishment, is for our own good! 

The Problem with Pardons 

Getting a pardon for a crime before any punishment is meted out denies us the chance to make repentance. It takes away the suffering that erases the penalties of our sins.  

Adam sinned, and we all must pay for it by dying. Chava (Eve) sinned, and women must pay for it with a tough pregnancy. We committed the sin of the golden calf, and to this day, every Jew must pay for it.  

Of Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of the Jewish faith, number 11 (I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, rewards those who observe His commandments, and punishes those who transgress His commandments.) is complete emunah that we are rewarded for a mitzvah and punished for a sin.  

We get partial pardons all the time. Rarely, if ever, will Hashem give us our full measure of punishment for the bad we do.  

But we do pay for things one way or another. We all suffer, and it’s during these times that we decide to learn a little more Torah every day, give a little more to charity, and refine how we speak to one another.  

A full pardon isn’t as effective in bringing us to the point of penitence. 

The Promise of Punishment 

In this world, punishment is a blessing. It leads to repentance which leads to an even greater reward. God reserves that reward for us in the Next World, the only place where we can receive it in full measure.  

Pardon in pocket, Hunter Biden has no reason to change his ways or atone for the crimes he committed that led to the need for a pardon in the first place. He might even feel he beat the system so he can keep committing these crimes.  

It will be even harder for him to do what is necessary to earn the ultimate rewards where it really counts. On a deeper level, President Biden stole from his son the chance to erase his sins – and even reverse them. 

Punishment is such a part of our job in this world that the Talmud tells us if our lives are free from any type of suffering for 40 days, we need to make a serious personal accounting.  

The Creature Who Had It Made 

For deceiving Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, God gave the snake an endless pardon: It lived on its belly and ate dust. Its food was right in front of him all his life. It was never in a state of suffering where it had to cry out to Hashem or make any improvements.   

Suffering and pain are necessary electric shocks to our system, administered by our Father and True Judge to get us moving.  

We don’t have forever to serve Hashem in this world.  

Life is tough. It’s tempting to take a rest, catch our breath, or ease into a routine that – even if this routine is full of merit – we have the ability to do more, so we are leaving jewels behind. The Gemara warns us to go to Shul (synagogue) straight from work because if we go home, we will eat, we will sit, and we will rest until sleep kidnaps us, and then we lose the mitzvah of reciting Shema Yisrael in Maariv.  

The allure of passing up blessings is everywhere. The time we must resist these urges gets shorter by the day. The need for Klal Yisrael to take every opportunity to merit peace for the Jewish People with each Divinely directed act is greater than ever! 

That’s why we cannot afford a pardon. We cannot waste a single opportunity for repentance, return, and Divine redemption.  

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.