by Rabbi Ya’aqob Menashe
The Rambam (Maimonides) in Hilkhoth Teshubah (the laws of repentance), states that when an individual’s sins are being weighed on one side of the scale, against his merits on the other side, the sins that he committed once or twice are not added to the side of the sins. However, if the sins that he committed three times or more are found to be more numerous than his merits, then even the sins that he committed once or twice, which were originally omitted, are now added to the others and he is judged on all of them.
If, on the other hand, a person’s merits are found to be equal to or more numerous than the sins he committed three or more times, G-d forgives all his sins in the following manner:
Since the sins committed once or twice were not included, the ones committed three times are now considered the “first” and are forgiven. Since they have now been forgiven, a sin committed four times is now considered to be a “first” and is also forgiven. And so it continues till all the sins have been forgiven.
(See Rambam, Hilkhoth Teshubah, 3:5)
