Reb Kornfeld,
first, thank you for answering our questions with so much chochma - it's a great chesed to us.
it's my first time through, and i'm not sure where it will be addressed, so may i ask - is one liable to a chatas for thinking about work on the Shabbos?
and if the rules are different for a rabbi because he ministers to the people, then how is ministering to the people defined? if, for example, one is writing a commentary on Torah, and meditating on the Holy One, Blessed be He, may one meditate on the current chapter?
yoel litvak
Although it is never a good idea to think wrong thoughts, and one will perhaps be taken to task for not using one's time positively, there is no real prohibition in doing so, other than in the areas of idolatry and of course lewd thoughts, for which one is punishable by the Hand of Hash-m.
There is no area of Halachah where one is punishable for one's thoughts at the hand of Beis-Din.
The Olah sacrifice (burnt-offering), came to atone for bad thoughts, but that was voluntary.
Added to that, the Gemara will say later in the Masechta, that the Torah forbade specifically Melachos on Shabbos, but not thinking about it.
As for your second question, I'm not sure why you think that the laws pertaining Rabbis differ from laws pertaining to others (apart from the fact that since they know more than the laymen, more is expected of them). Please clarify.
Kindest regards Eliezer Chrysler.
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