The Worst Sin by Joshua Salik

How do we judge what is right and wrong? Are

there some actions that are better or worse that
others? These are just a few of the questions
raised in this story by Joshua Salik. As you read,
make notes about the theme of this story and
how the author conveys this theme.

“Indifferent Legs” by Riccardo Cuppini is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

It was on Yom Kippur, the Jewish judgment day. After taking care of all the
easy cases it was time to judge the heavy sinners. They were all going to hell,
for sure, but even in hell there are bad places and worse places, and each of
the sinners had to be assigned his proper place.

There are seven chambers in hell. Chamber 1 is bad but not as bad as Chamber
2. Chamber 2 is worse than Chamber 1, but still not nearly as bad as Chamber
3. The worst is Chamber 7.

After sitting in his chair, God told the bailiff, “Ok, send in the first sinner.”

The first sinner came in.

[5] “What is his sin?” God asked the clerk.

“He is a thief. He stole things that did not belong to him.”

“What exactly did he steal?” asked God.

“You name it,” said the clerk “When he was a small boy he stole toys from
other children. He stole money from his mother. When he grew up he stole
cars. People worked all their lives to get those things, and he just took them.”

“Hm,” said God. “This is bad, but I’ll give him a break. Put him in Chamber1.”

[10] The bailiff took the sinner out.

“Ok,” said God. “Send in the second sinner.”

The second sinner stepped in.

“What sins did he commit?” asked God.

“He is a bigot,” said the clerk. “He hates everybody who is different from him.
He hates people with different colors of skin, different religions, and different
accents. He offended people, discriminated against them, and made their lives
miserable.”

“This really makes me angry,” said God. “I created all those people, and I cre-
ated them equal. No one is better or worse than the others. Send him to
Chamber 4.”

The bailiff took the sinner out.

“Do we have more?” God asked the clerk.

“I’m afraid so,” said the clerk.

“Then what exactly are we waiting for?” God told the bailiff. “Bring in the next
one.”

[20] The third sinner entered the room.

“What did he do?” asked God.

“He is a liar,” said the clerk.

“And to whom did he lie?” asked God.

“To everybody,” said the clerk. “He lied to his parents, he lied to his teachers,
he lied to his friends, to his wife, even to his children. Everybody. He cheated
people out of their money. He even lied to the police and had innocent people
put in jail.”

[25] “This is bad,” said God. “Take him to Chamber 2.

How many more do we have?”

“Four,” said the clerk.

“Four?” God sighed. “This job is getting harder and harder or maybe I am get-
ting older. Looks like every year we have more sinners. All right, send in the
next one.”

The bailiff brought in the fourth sinner.

“What is his sin?” God asked.

[30] “He was cruel to animals,” replied the clerk. “He beat dogs, cut lizards tails
off, burnt cats, plucked the legs off cockroaches ...”

“Ok, Ok,” God got sick. “I’ve heard enough.”

He turned to the sinner and said, “Do you know who created those animals? I
did. When you hurt them you’re hurting me. I am sending you to Chamber 5.”

“Chamber 5?” the sinner could not believe his ears.

“You heard me,” God answered.

[35] “I am ready for the next one,” God told the bailiff “Bring him in.”

The next sinner showed up.

“What did he do?” asked God.

“Just a minute,” said the clerk. “I need to check my notes.”

“OK,” said God. “But hurry up. We don’t have all day, you know.”

[40] “Here,” said the clerk after a few minutes. “I found it. This guy was irre-
sponsible.”

“What do you mean?” asked God.

“He left his family - a wife and five children. As if it wasn’t bad enough for his
children to grow up without a father, he also took all the money and left them
with nothing. His wife had to take three jobs to put food on the table,” the
clerk said.

“What did he do with the money?” God asked.

“He spent it, or more correctly wasted it, on his own pleasures,” the clerk an-
swered. “He bought himself a new car, a boat. He gambled, he drank. This kind
of stuff.”

[45] “This guy makes me sick,” said God. “I have no sympathy for him. Put him
in Chamber 3.”

“Shall we take a break?” asked the clerk.

“No,” said God. “Let’s get it over with. Bring in the next one.”

The next sinner was brought in.

“And what is he here for?” God asked.

[50] “This is a heavy one,” said the clerk. “He is a killer. He took from people
the most important thing – their lives.”

“I am not sure that this is the most important thing,” God interrupted the
clerk, “but it is very important. Continue.”

“Not only did he take the lives of his victims, but he also ruined the lives of
their families, caused pain to their friends...”

“Ok, Ok,” said God. “I get the picture, and I agree with you. This is a very heavy
sin. I am the one who gives life and I am the only one who can take it away.
Put him in Chamber 6. Is he the last one?”
“No,” said the clerk. “There is one more.”

[55] “And I thought we’ve heard all the possible sins,” said God. “What did this
one do?”

“Nothing,” said the clerk.

“What do you mean nothing?” asked God. “Then why is he here? Doing noth-
ing may be lazy, but it isn’t a sin, last time I checked.”

“Well, then, check again,” said the clerk. “I believe that doing nothing is a
horrible sin.”

“How so?” asked God.

[60] “This guy saw horrible crimes and did nothing to prevent them. He saw
people cheated and did not tell them the truth. He saw animals tortured and
did not treat them. He saw bigotry and did not fight it. He saw injustice and did
not correct it. He saw children starving and did not feed them. He saw people
attacked and did not defend them. I accuse him of the worst sin – indifference.
It is people like him who make all the other sins possible.”

“You know what?” said God. “You convinced me. This is the worst sin. He be-
longs in Chamber 7.”

“The Worst Sin” by Joshua Salik from StoryShares.org. Reprinted with permission of StoryShares.