How Many Sinners Are We Talking About?

Q. Regarding Yirmiyahu chapter 3 and other places where there is a mention of the Jews sinning, how many Jews are we talking about? All of them, a majority of them, a significant minority of them, or just a few thousand? Throughout the 40 years of wandering in the desert, based on how many were killed in a plague, not a significant amount actually sinned, yet God punished the entire nation. Any thoughts?

A. Thanks for your very interesting question. How many people were sinners? Literally all of them! As per Koheles 7:20, no one is so righteous that he only does good and never sins. (Yes, the Gemara discusses four individuals who never sinned and who only died because people must die, but even if you take that 100% literally, they're still exceedingly rare, noteworthy exceptions.)

But there's sinning and then there's sinning. Look in the Chumash. After the cheit ha'eigel (sin of the Golden Calf), some sinners were executed, some died from a plague, and some died from drinking the water sprinkled with the gold dust. Others, of course, were forgiven. The sinner's fate reflects the nature of the sin: Who was an instigator? Who was a willing participant? Who knew exactly what they were doing and who was duped?

Similarly, regarding Korach's rebellion, some sinners fell into the earth, some were burned by a Divine fire, some died in a plague, and some would have died but were spared. Again, everyone got what was appropriate based on the nature of his crime. 

So, regarding Sefer Yirmiyahu, certainly not everyone was an idolator, but it was widespread enough for God to send neviim (prophets) to address it. Was everyone equal in the sin? Also certainly not. Some people were no doubt enthusiastic idolators, while others were probably persuaded by peer pressure. Some were fully aware of what they were doing, while others were ignorant. There were likely people who didn't participate in the idolatry but who justified others' rights to worship idols. There were probably people who didn't justify idolatry, but who also didn't object to it. (You may recall the incident in which Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah didn't object to his neighbor’s chillul Shabbos [Sabbath desecration], with the result that he was held partially responsible for it.) 

All of us are guilty of ignoring God's word in one way or another. There eventually comes a tipping point in which everyone is carried along with what may be a significant minority. That's not unfair because even those who didn't participate in sin X still contributed to the overall spiritual makeup of the nation through their own lapses and shortcomings.

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