A Parable for Atheist Delinquency

Mishlei 6:30 – 35:

לא יבוזו לגנב כי יגנוב למלא נפשו כי ירעב. ונמצא ישלם שבעתים את כל הון ביתו יתן. נאף אשה חסר לב משחית נפשו הוא יעשנה. נגע וקלון ימצא וחרפתו לא תמחה. כי קנאה חמת גבר ולא יחמול ביום נקם. לא ישא פני כל כפר ולא יאבה כי תרבה שחד.

They will not despise a thief if he steals to sate his appetite, for he is hungry. And if he is found, he will pay sevenfold; he must give all he owns. One who commits adultery with a woman is devoid of sense; one who would destroy his soul-he will do it. He will find wounds and disgrace, and his reproach shall not be erased for jealousy shall arouse the husband’s wrath, and he will not have pity on the day of vengeance. He will not have regard for any ransom, neither will he consent though you give him many bribes.

In other words, even though thieving to eat is understandable, so the shame is less, the punishment is still severe. But the punishment for adultery is far worse, and the shame ineradicable. (At least that’s how it used to be.)

This Parsha serves also as a parable for Bein Adam Lamakom; it is one thing to be a thief, another entirely to be a traitor.

Not to exclude seemingly settled adults, but at the very least lost teenagers should avoid heresy. If they have a good secular psychologist, he should be telling them the same. If you aren’t מן היישוב, aren’t careful about other people’s property, are single (or worse, have a קדשה), wake at noon, and use drugs with or without a prescription, maybe you should reserve judgment on the secrets of the universe. Keep a notebook, so you don’t forget your insights, and leave it at that.

If you can’t keep Torah and Mitzvos at the moment to some degree, you can take comfort in the fact that many people have gone through such an “Onness” stage. Those who heal such youth focus on turning them, firstly, into human beings (including via Torah study, see Emuna Ubitachon Chazon Ish 4:12), and rightly so. (For an alternative approach, see this.)

This isn’t merely about which sins are worse, but a form of “אל תרשע הרבה”.