Unforgivable Sins?

Question

Are there any sins for which one can never achieve forgiveness, no matter how sorry they feel after the fact?
Are there any sins that if one commits, one cannot earn a share in Olam Haba, no matter how much they atone and no matter how many other good deeds they have?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    All sins can be atoned for. A person can repent for even the most awful of sins. What is true, however, is that certain sins have repercussions that can never be undone. For example, murder. Even after the person who committed the murder repents wholeheartedly, they can never bring the person they murdered back to life.

    The Talmud teaches that a person who sins and deliberately causes (many) others to sin does not have a place in the World to Come. Practically, anyone who has caused others to sin would need to seek out advice from one of the great authorities of the generation for help and direction for what they can do to try and alleviate the consequences of what they have done.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team

  2. grzantz
    September 3, 2024 at 8:41 pm

    It’s possible that quite a lot of seemingly normal (but imperfect) Jewish people have led a lot of others to sin. Does that mean all these masses of Jewish people will be denied a portion in the world to come?

  3. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team
    September 4, 2024 at 11:41 am

    It has to be a deliberate act of defiance and rebellion against Hashem. if that is not the case they do not need to be concerned that they have lost their position in the World to Come. Of course, they still need to do Teshuvah for whatever they have done.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team