Q&A: Principles of Jewish Law. Hello Rabbi—in Principles of Jewish Law 16 the Rabbi said that a guilt-offering is brought even without a prohibition, but only because of the devastation that was caused. My question: if so, then seemingly every sin-offering should also require a guilt-offering, because if there was a prohibition then devastation was automatically caused. Did I understand correctly? Thank you.
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Principles of Jewish Law. Hello Rabbi—in Principles of Jewish Law 16 the Rabbi said that a guilt-offering is brought even without a prohibition, but only because of the devastation that was caused. My question: if so, then seemingly every sin-offering should also require a guilt-offering, because if there was a prohibition then devastation was automatically caused. Did I understand correctly? Thank you.
Question
Answer
We saw that when there is another punishment or another sacrifice, that cancels out the guilt-offering. As with ordinary robbery or theft, or with someone who has relations with a regular married woman (not a designated maidservant). The guilt-offering is brought when there is nothing else that addresses the issue.
Beyond that, not every transgression creates devastation. Only when you break into a domain that is outside your own sphere. That happens only in very specific kinds of transgressions.