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    Chapter 1 · Arba’ah Rashei Shanim

    He removes the first, the first

    Lesson 5 of 14 22 min

    How are sins weighed? The school of Rabbi Yishmael proposes a mechanism of mercy.

    Lesson goals
    • 01Restate the source in your own words.
    • 02Identify the central distinction and explain its significance.
    • 03Apply the distinction in the exercise without adding a ruling absent from the source.
    01

    Source and decoding - Rosh Hashanah 17a

    Rosh Hashanah 17a
    מַעֲבִיר רִאשׁוֹן רִאשׁוֹן, וְכֵן הִיא הַמִּדָּה. אָמַר רָבָא: וְעָוֹן עַצְמוֹ אֵינוֹ נִמְחָק. דְּאִי אִיכָּא רוּבָּא עֲוֹנוֹת — מִחֲשִׁיב בַּהֲדַיְיהוּ.

    Taught the school of Rabbi Yishmael: He removes the first, the first - that is the attribute.

    Taught the school of Rabbi Yishmael: He removes the first, the first - that is the attribute. Rava clarifies: the sin itself is not erased; if sins form a majority, it is counted with them. Mercy works within the balance, not by erasure.

    02

    Building the reasoning

    1. 1Restate the source in your own words.
    2. 2Identify the central distinction and explain its significance.
    3. 3Apply the distinction in the exercise without adding a ruling absent from the source.
    03

    Terms to decode

    מעביר
    removes
    המדה
    the attribute
    רובא
    a majority
    04

    Before moving on

    Insight

    This lesson is a study framework, not a halachic ruling. Check everything in the sources, and bring practical questions to a rabbi.

    Practice

    Explain in two lines the difference between "removing" and "erasing" per Rava.

    Lesson wrap-up

    Mercy and judgment work together in the same balance.

    Check your understanding

    Test yourself before marking the lesson complete.

    Question 1 of 3

    Who taught "He removes the first"?

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