30 May PARASHAT NASO: OUR COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

The Torah in Parashat
Naso (5:5-8) discusses
the case of a person
who stole and then
took an oath falsely
denying his crime. After he confesses his
sin and repents, he must pay the victim the
principal that he stole plus a 20 percent
penalty, and, in addition, he must bring a
sacrifice.
If we look carefully at the text, we will
notice something strange about the syntax.
Throughout the discussion of this law, the
Torah uses the singular form: “If a man
or woman commits any sin of man…and
that soul bears guilt…he shall return what
he is guilty of…and give it to whom he
wronged…” In one instance, however,
the Torah suddenly and surprisingly shifts
to the plural form – in speaking of the
thief’s repentance: “They shall confess
the iniquity which they committed” (5:7).
The Torah then immediately reverts back
to the singular form: “he shall return what
he is guilty of…” What is the reason for
this shift?
Rav Chaim Zeitchik (1906-1989)
explained that when a person commits a
sin, there are many “accomplices,” many

individuals who, unknowingly, played a
role in facilitating the wrongdoing. In the
case of theft, for example, there may have
been people who were in a position to offer
the thief the financial assistance he needed,
or help him find a job, such that he would
not have resorted to theft. It goes without
saying that the criminal himself bears full
responsibility for his decision to steal;
financial struggles are not an excuse for
misconduct. Nevertheless, those who could
have alleviated his struggles are partly
responsible for the unfortunate outcome.
In some instances, a thief’s family bears
some degree of blame, for imposing upon
him pressure to earn more money, by
demanding a higher material standard or
complaining that they do not enjoy the same
luxuries as their neighbors. These demands
and complaints have a considerable
psychological effect, and could lead the
head of the household to resort to unethical
behavior in order to obtain the money his
family wants. More broadly, a community
or society bears some guilt for setting
the bar too high, for turning luxuries into
necessities, to the point where some people
feel almost compelled to steal or cheat their
way to wealth. Again, the pressure imposed

by the society does not in any way absolve
the criminal of guilt. But it means that on
some level, all of society bears a certain
degree of culpability, by having created
an environment that drives people to take
extreme measures to increase their wealth.
Likewise, we all bear some degree of
responsibility for people’s spiritual failures.
Each and every one of us contributes to
the creation of the environment in which
we, our community, and our society
live. By dedicating ourselves to Torah
learning and Misva observance, we not
only help ourselves, but also help make
our environment more oriented towards
holiness, which naturally impacts the
people around us. Conversely, if we neglect
or underemphasize Torah and Misvot, we
help create an environment of religious
apathy, which has the effect of lowering
other people’s standards. We then bear a
degree of guilt for other people’s misdeeds.
For this reason, Rav Zeitchik explains,
the Torah says that when an individual
sins, “Ve’hidvadu Et Avonam Asher
Asu” – everyone must confess their
wrongdoing. Although the sinner bears full
accountability for his actions, we all share
some level of responsibility. And so when

an individual fails, and certainly when
many individuals fail, we must also confess
and repent for our role in facilitating this
unfortunate situation.
The way we conduct ourselves has a
profound, albeit indirect, impact upon the
people around us, and even upon society as
a whole. Everything we do and say, and the
way we live our lives, helps determine the
accepted standards. We must recognize the
immense responsibility we have not only
to ourselves and our families, but to our
society, and conduct ourselves accordingly,
so we can do our share in maintaining
proper standards of Torah observance
throughout our community and throughout
Am Yisrael.