and Amorah4 are great5. . ." (Genesis 18:20). The same judgment is for the entire world. If the sins of mankind would be greater than their merits, they would be sentenced to devastation. As it is written regarding the great flood in the time of Noah, "God saw that man's wickedness on earth had increased." (Genesis 6:5).
The calculation (of merits and sins) is not based on the number of good and bad deeds. The calculation is based on the amount of sincerity and vigilance that he did the deed with. He may have done a merit that outweighs many sins, as it is written, "For in him alone, a good quality was found." (Kings I, 14:13)6. The prophet Achiyah Hashiloni predicted that the children of the wicked king Yerovam would die and be eaten by dogs. However his son Aviyah died, and merited to be buried and mourned by Israel, "because in him alone a good quality was found." The Talmud in Moed Katan 28b explains that, although Aviyah followed in his evil father's footsteps, he had one great merit. He called off the guards his father had installed to prevent the people from going to Jerusalem for the Yamim Tovim. This merit earned him the privilege of burial.
Oppositely, he may have done a sin that outweighs many merits, as it is written, "A single error destroys much of value." (Ecclesiastes 9:18). The weighing of merits and sins is done according to the wisdom of God our Creator. (He does not entrust these decisions to any of his creations.)
[3:3] Oppositely, one can regret and repent the good deeds that one has done just as one can repent the bad deeds that he has done, and all his mitzvos will be lost7 as if he never did them. By saying to himself,
Maimonides states that the decision to destroy the provinces of Sodom and Amorah were because their sins were greater than their merits. However, in Genesis chapter 18, Abraham begs God to have mercy on them if there are ten righteous people amongst them who stood up against their evil deeds and chastised them. People who see others do evil and mind their own business, may be punished with the rest of them as accomplices to their crimes.
If ten righteous people in a province are enough to save them from punishment, how then throughout Jewish history were cities destroyed and Jewish communities uprooted although there were more than ten righteous people among them? The difference between them is, that with Sodom and Amorah the punishment was total destruction, similar to the flood during the period of Noah. Abraham did not beg God to forgive their sins and not punish them. Abraham asked God not to totally destroy them if there were ten righteous people among them, but only to punish them for their sins.
It is well known from the Talmud and Medrash that the sins of Sodom and Amorah were greater than their merits generations before their destruction, so why were they not punished then. The answer is, that when their sins are cruelty to mankind, God did not destroy them immediately after being fully paid for whatever good that they may have done, in order that their sins should multiply to deserve total destruction.
The prophet Achiyah Hashiloni predicted that the children of the wicked king Yerovam would die and be eaten by dogs. However, his son Aviyah died, and merited to be buried and mourned by Israel, "because in him alone a good quality was found." The Talmud in Moed Katan 28b explains that, although Aviyah followed in his evil father's footsteps, he had one great merit. He called off the guards his father had installed to prevent the people from going to Jerusalem for the Yamim Tovim. This merit earned him the privilege of burial.
The world was created with positive and negative or good and the ability to do evil. Therefore, if one repents, the sin is erased from the books. Oppositely, if one regrets doing a mitzvah, the mitzvah is erased from the books. If, however, he does not accept upon himself never to do this mitzvah again, but leaves open the option to do it in the future, this is not considered totally regretting doing the mitzvah, and the mitzvah is not lost. A person who regrets doing mitzvos and who accepts upon himself not to do mitzvos,