Sin and Mitzvah: Each Born from the Other

2Or we may say, again by way of hint, that the verse tells of sin and mitzvah, each born of the other. We see it in what people do. With the wicked, who do evil, the yetzer hara begins its enticement by telling them that this deed is a mitzvah, when in truth it is a great sin. And the tzaddikim, who guard themselves from sins, sometimes commit a sin lishmah, for the sake of Heaven,¹ just as we find that a person is permitted to change his words for the sake of peace.² That is “These are the generations of Yitzchak”: the din, judgment, that comes through sins. And the cause of the sin is “son of Avraham,” which hints at a mitzvah, for the yetzer hara tells a person that the sin is a mitzvah. And some tzaddikim commit a sin for the sake of Heaven, as we said. At this “Avraham begot Yitzchak” hints: the great tzaddik sometimes begets “Yitzchak,” judgment, for out of his great righteousness he sometimes commits a sin for the sake of Heaven. This is easy to understand.