Q&A: Greater Is One Who Causes Another to Sin Than One Who Kills Him
Greater Is One Who Causes Another to Sin Than One Who Kills Him
Question
Hello Rabbi. I can’t manage to understand this statement: “Greater is one who causes another to sin than one who kills him.” What does that mean? Is a dead person preferable to a person who sins? Or is this about the one who causes it rather than about what he caused?
Answer
When we say that X is greater than Y, the intention is not a sweeping statement. There is one aspect in terms of which this is greater than that. You can see this in the six equivalent commandments (the title of Rabbi Wolbe’s pamphlet). There are six commandments that are considered equivalent to the entire Torah. But that is a contradictory situation, since each one would then have to be equivalent to the Torah plus the other five. So it is clear that this is talking about a certain facet, or a statement indicating a general direction, and not something that should be interpreted literally.