Message Detail Subject: Is teshuva a Moral Hazard? Author: sea.of.jay@gmail.com Date: 10/15/2007 This was a beautiful column and I have enjoyed reading it very much. Can the case of the purchase of Fire Insurance, where the insured individual reduces his personal level of care for fire safety and is therefore inefficient due to the redistribution of risks, be compared to the process of teshuva, where a sinner, knowing he can later repent and minimize the punishment, reduces his care not to sin(although it is forbidden to sin and think "I will repent", with the existence of teshuva there is the potential of such a thought)? Is teshuva a Moral Hazard? If so, can you discuss some of the ideas that have been proposed to increase the level of efficiency in cases such as the purchase of Fire Insurance? Do you think a discussion of this nature might strengthen one's disincentive to sin? Thank you.