Teshuva: repentance in Judaism, sources and steps

“Repentance” is the word English gives to teshuva, and it is a little misleading: one hears in it shame, remorse, sackcloth and ashes. The Hebrew word says something else. Teshuva comes from the root shuv, “to return”: one had drifted away, and one comes back. What must one do for this return to be valid? Are there unforgivable sins? What does Yom Kippur change? This article answers from the Torah, the Prophets, the Mishnah, the Talmud, Maimonides and the Shulchan Aruch, distinguishing law (halakha) from moral and mystical reading, and noting Ashkenazi and Sephardi customs.

In short: teshuva is a mitzvah of the Torah (Ramban on Devarim [Deuteronomy] 30:11), whose core Maimonides defines in four acts: abandoning the sin, regretting it, resolving not to commit it again, and confessing it before G-d (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 1:1; 2:2). When the sin concerns another person, one must in addition make amends and obtain that person’s forgiveness (Mishnah Yoma 8:9). It is open to everyone, at any hour, up to the last day of life; the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the time when it is most “near” (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 2:6). It is not magic: one cannot decide to sin counting on Yom Kippur (Mishnah Yoma 8:9). But no sin closes the door to one who returns (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 4:6).

1. One word, one mitzvah: what the Torah says

The Torah does not define teshuva in one single place; it inscribes it in several scenes. The most famous is the end of Moshe’s great discourse, when he announces exile and return:

“When all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse that I have set before you, and you take them to heart among all the nations where the L-rd your G-d has dispersed you; and you return (veshavta) to the L-rd your G-d, and you listen to His voice (…) then the L-rd your G-d will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you.”

(Devarim 30:1-3) — וְהָיָה֩ כִֽי־יָבֹ֨אוּ עָלֶ֜יךָ כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה הַבְּרָכָה֙ וְהַקְּלָלָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ֙ אֶל־לְבָבֶ֔ךָ בְּכׇ֨ל־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר הִדִּיחֲךָ֛ ה׳ אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ שָֽׁמָּה׃ וְשַׁבְתָּ֞ עַד־ה׳ אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֣ בְקֹל֔וֹ כְּכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם אַתָּ֣ה וּבָנֶ֔יךָ בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכׇל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ וְשָׁ֨ב ה׳ אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ אֶת־שְׁבוּתְךָ֖ וְרִחֲמֶ֑ךָ וְשָׁ֗ב וְקִבֶּצְךָ֙ מִכׇּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֧ר הֱפִֽיצְךָ֛ ה׳ אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ שָֽׁמָּה׃

The verb is at the heart of the passage: “you will return” (30:2), then “He will return” (30:3), G-d in turn returning toward the one who returns. The Torah also gives it its concrete dimension. One who has sinned “shall confess the sin” (Vayikra [Leviticus] 5:5); one who has wronged another “shall confess his sin, restore the principal and add a fifth to it” (Bamidbar [Numbers] 5:6-7). It is from this last verse that Maimonides derives the mitzvah of confession (vidui): “Any mitzvah of the Torah, positive or negative, if a person transgresses one, whether deliberately or by mistake, when he does teshuva and returns from his sin, he is obligated to confess before G-d” (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 1:1).

A mitzvah that is close to us

The Ramban sees in teshuva more than a consequence: an explicit commandment. On the verse “For this mitzvah that I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far away” (Devarim 30:11), he writes that “this mitzvah” refers to the teshuva mentioned just before, because “And you shall return to your heart” and “And you shall return to the L-rd” constitute a commandment:

“But ‘this mitzvah’ refers to the teshuva mentioned: ‘And you shall return to your heart’ (Devarim 30:1), ‘And you shall return to the L-rd your G-d’ (30:2): it is a mitzvah that He commands us to perform in this way.”

(Ramban on Devarim 30:11) — אֲבָל הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת, עַל הַתְּשׁוּבָה הַנִּזְכֶּרֶת, כִּי וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶךָ (דברים ל’:א’) וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד ה’ אֱלֹהֶיךָ (דברים ל’:ב’), מִצְוָה שֶׁיְּצַוֶּה אוֹתָנוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת כֵּן.

And the next verse removes the excuse: “It is not in heaven (…) it is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it” (Devarim 30:12-14). The Ramban explains: one may be “at the end of the heavens” and in the hands of the nations, and yet return; what is “in the mouth and in the heart” is the confession of the lips and the return of the heart (Ramban on Devarim 30:11). A few verses earlier, the Torah even describes divine help: “The L-rd your G-d will circumcise your heart” (Devarim 30:6). Rabbeinu Yonah reads in it the promise that G-d helps those who return, even when their nature does not allow them to attain love of G-d (Rabbeinu Yonah, Sha’arei Teshuva 1:1).

2. The Prophets: “I do not desire the death of the wicked”

It is in the Prophets that the theme of teshuva becomes a call. The central text is that of Yechezkel (Ezekiel):

“Say to them: As I live, declares the L-rd G-d, I do not desire the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways; why will you die, O house of Israel?”

(Yechezkel 33:11) — אֱמֹ֨ר אֲלֵיהֶ֜ם חַי־אָ֣נִי ׀ נְאֻ֣ם ׀ אֲדֹנָ֣י ה׳ אִם־אֶחְפֹּץ֙ בְּמ֣וֹת הָרָשָׁ֔ע כִּ֣י אִם־בְּשׁ֥וּב רָשָׁ֛ע מִדַּרְכּ֖וֹ וְחָיָ֑ה שׁ֣וּבוּ שׁ֜וּבוּ מִדַּרְכֵיכֶ֧ם הָרָעִ֛ים וְלָ֥מָּה תָמ֖וּתוּ בֵּ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

The same idea appears in Yechezkel 18:21-23 and 18:32: the wicked man who returns “shall surely live, he shall not die; none of his transgressions shall be remembered.” Hoshea gives a concrete instruction: “Take words with you and return to the L-rd; say to Him: forgive all iniquity” (Hoshea 14:2-3). Yoel asks for an inner rupture: “Rend your hearts and not your garments” (Yoel 2:12-13). Yeshayahu: “Let the wicked forsake his way (…) let him return to the L-rd, who will have compassion on him” (Yeshayahu [Isaiah] 55:7). Malachi: “Return to Me and I will return to you” (Malachi 3:7).

The book of Yonah shows teshuva at work: the inhabitants of Nineveh turn from their evil ways and the decree is annulled (Yonah 3:10). The Sages make a lesson for life of it. In the liturgy of the fast days, the elder of the community says to the people: “My brothers, it is not said of the people of Nineveh, ‘G-d saw their sackcloth and their fasting,’ but ‘G-d saw their deeds, that they had turned from their evil way'” (Mishnah Ta’anit 2:1). Teshuva is judged by deeds.

3. What must one do? Maimonides’ definition

The Sages spoke much of teshuva; it is the Rambam who put the whole in order in his Hilchot Teshuva, the “Laws of Repentance,” ten chapters of the Mishneh Torah.

“What is teshuva? That the sinner abandons his sin, removes it from his thoughts and resolves in his heart never to commit it again, as it is said: ‘Let the wicked forsake his way’ (Yeshayahu 55:7). He must also regret the past, as it is said: ‘After I returned, I regretted’ (Yirmiyahu [Jeremiah] 31:19). And He who knows what is hidden must testify that he will never return to this sin, as it is said: ‘We will no longer say: our G-d! to the work of our hands’ (Hoshea 14:4). And he must confess with his lips and say these things that he resolved in his heart.”

(Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 2:2) — וּמַה הִיא הַתְּשׁוּבָה. הוּא שֶׁיַּעֲזֹב הַחוֹטֵא חֶטְאוֹ וִיסִירוֹ מִמַּחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ וְיִגְמֹר בְּלִבּוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יַעֲשֵׂהוּ עוֹד שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נה ז) “יַעֲזֹב רָשָׁע דַּרְכּוֹ” וְגוֹ’. וְכֵן יִתְנַחֵם עַל שֶׁעָבַר שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ירמיה לא יט) “כִּי אַחֲרֵי שׁוּבִי נִחַמְתִּי”. וְיָעִיד עָלָיו יוֹדֵעַ תַּעֲלוּמוֹת שֶׁלֹּא יָשׁוּב לְזֶה הַחֵטְא לְעוֹלָם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (הושע יד ד) “וְלֹא נֹאמַר עוֹד אֱלֹהֵינוּ לְמַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ” וְגוֹ’. וְצָרִיךְ לְהִתְוַדּוֹת בִּשְׂפָתָיו וְלוֹמַר עִנְיָנוֹת אֵלּוּ שֶׁגָּמַר בְּלִבּוֹ:

Hence four classic components: abandoning the sin (azivat hacheit), regret (charata), confession (vidui) and resolution for the future (kabbalah le’atid). The Rambam even gives the formula of the vidui: “Please, Hashem, I have sinned, I have done wrong, I have transgressed before You, and I have done such and such; behold, I regret and am ashamed of my actions, and I will never return to this” (Hilchot Teshuva 1:1). He also requires that confession not be an empty rite: one who confesses without having resolved to abandon the sin “is like one who immerses while holding a reptile: immersion is of no use to him until he has cast it away” (2:3). The image, drawn from the laws of purity, is striking (see the article on the mikveh).

Complete teshuva

The Rambam distinguishes a “complete” teshuva (gemura), that of the man who, finding himself in the same situation, under the same conditions and with the same capacity to act, refrains, “not out of fear or weakness” but because of his teshuva (Hilchot Teshuva 2:1). He does not, however, reserve teshuva for the strong alone: one who returns only in old age, when he can no longer do what he used to do, “although this is not the highest teshuva, it is of use to him and he is a baal teshuva”; and even one who sinned all his life and does teshuva on the day of his death, “all his sins are forgiven him” (2:1).

The means of return

The Rambam also lists “paths” of teshuva: crying out before G-d with tears and supplications, giving tzedakah according to one’s means, distancing oneself from the object of the sin, changing one’s name (that is, saying “I am another, I am no longer the man who did that”), changing one’s deeds, and even going into exile, for exile makes one humble (Hilchot Teshuva 2:4). The Talmud knows a similar list: “Four things tear up a person’s decree: tzedakah, crying out, changing one’s name and changing one’s deeds” (Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16b, Rabbi Yitzchak).

Which sins? Even “character flaws”

Teshuva does not concern only visible sins. The Rambam writes: “Do not say that teshuva applies only to sins of action, such as adultery, theft or robbery. Just as one must return from these, so one must search out one’s bad dispositions and return from anger, hatred, jealousy, mockery, the pursuit of money, of honors, of food…” (Hilchot Teshuva 7:3). He adds that these sins are harder to leave than those committed in deed, because one is immersed in them. Teshuva is thus work on oneself as much as repair of one’s actions.

4. Between a person and his fellow: make amends, then ask forgiveness

Teshuva does not erase wrongs done to others. The Mishnah says so in so many words:

“For sins between a person and the Omnipresent (G-d), Yom Kippur atones; for sins between a person and his fellow, Yom Kippur does not atone until he has appeased his fellow.”

(Mishnah Yoma 8:9) — עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַמָּקוֹם, יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר. עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ, אֵין יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר, עַד שֶׁיְּרַצֶּה אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ.

The Rambam spells out the requirement: one who has wronged another is forgiven only after returning what he owes and appeasing him; even if the offense was only in words, one must go to him until he forgives. If the person refuses, one comes with three people, then a second and a third time; if he does not relent, one leaves him, “and it is he who becomes the sinner” (Hilchot Teshuva 2:9). And conversely, the one who receives the request has a duty to forgive: “It is forbidden to be cruel; one must be easily appeased and slow to anger” (2:10). The Shulchan Aruch takes up these rules for the eve of Yom Kippur (Orach Chaim 606:1), and the Rema adds that one who forgives should not be cruel, unless he is acting for the benefit of the one asking; as for someone against whom a bad reputation was spread, he is not obliged to forgive.

The Rambam notes a case where the admission must be public: the admission of wrongs done to another may be made before everyone, and the proud person who “covers his sins” does not have a complete teshuva (“One who conceals his sins will not succeed,” Mishlei [Proverbs] 28:13). By contrast, for sins between a person and G-d, “he has no need to make them known, and it is even impudence to reveal them” (Hilchot Teshuva 2:5). Confession is therefore made to G-d.

The Torah already linked the two planes: one who wrongs his fellow “commits a trespass against the L-rd” (Bamidbar 5:6). To make amends to a person is also to return to G-d.

5. What teshuva achieves

Pardon, atonement: three words not to be confused

The tradition distinguishes teshuva (the movement of return), pardon (selichah) and atonement (kapparah). The Mishnah says that teshuva atones for light sins, positive or negative, and that it “suspends” the punishment for grave sins until Yom Kippur atones (Mishnah Yoma 8:8). The Rambam specifies the degrees: for a positive commandment without karet, the repentant sinner “does not move from that spot before he is forgiven”; for a prohibition without karet or death penalty by the court, teshuva suspends and Yom Kippur atones; for sins punishable by karet or death by the court, teshuva and Kippur suspend, and suffering completes the atonement; and for one who has profaned the Name of G-d, only death completes the atonement (Hilchot Teshuva 1:4). This text describes degrees of atonement, not closed doors: the next paragraph shows it.

The doors are never closed

Rabbeinu Yonah opens his treatise with this sentence: even if sinners have multiplied their transgressions, “He has not closed to them the doors of teshuva” (Sha’arei Teshuva 1:1, citing Yirmiyahu 3:22). The Rambam devotes a chapter (the fourth) to the twenty-four things that “hold back” teshuva: not joining the community, despising the teachers, hating reproof, leading the crowd into sin, and so on. But he concludes: “All these things, even though they hold back teshuva, do not prevent it: if a person does teshuva from them, he is a baal teshuva and he has a share in the world to come” (Hilchot Teshuva 4:6).

“Where baalei teshuva stand”

The Sages go further than pardon. Rabbi Abbahu teaches:

“Where baalei teshuva (those who have returned) stand, the completely righteous cannot stand.”

(Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 34b, Rabbi Abbahu) — מָקוֹם שֶׁבַּעֲלֵי תְשׁוּבָה עוֹמְדִין — צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִים אֵינָם עוֹמְדִין,

The Talmud notes that there is an opposing opinion (Rabbi Yochanan, who reserves the prophecies of consolation for baalei teshuva and says of the completely righteous “no eye has seen, O G-d, besides You”); the discussion is taken up in Sanhedrin 99a. The Rambam adopts the boldest reading: the baal teshuva must not think himself distant from the righteous, he is “beloved and desirable before the Creator as if he had never sinned” and his reward is greater, since he has tasted sin and overcome it (Hilchot Teshuva 7:4). He adds: “Yesterday he was hated, abominable, distant; today he is beloved, desirable, near, a friend” (7:6). It is also forbidden to remind him of his past deeds: this is verbal wronging (7:8, based on Vayikra 25:17).

Out of fear or out of love

Rabbi Levi says: “Great is teshuva, for it reaches up to the Throne of Glory” (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 86a). The Talmud then distinguishes two qualities of teshuva. Resh Lakish: “Great is teshuva, for deliberate sins become for him like unintentional sins”; but elsewhere he says that “deliberate sins become merits”; the contradiction is resolved thus: “here out of love, here out of fear” (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 86b). In other words: to return out of fear of punishment is already to turn a wrong into a mere misstep; to return out of love is to turn it into a merit, because the sin becomes what made us grow. The Rambam makes love the summit of the path: it is not right to serve G-d in order to receive blessings or escape curses (Hilchot Teshuva 10:1; 10:3).

An example from the Talmud

The Talmud tells of Rabbi Elazar ben Dordaya, who “had left no prostitute in the world with whom he had not been.” A woman told him that, just as her breath would not return to its place, his teshuva would not be accepted. He begged the mountains, the heavens, the sun and the stars to intercede; each answered that he must first pray for himself. He then understood: “The matter depends only on me,” wept until his soul departed, and a heavenly voice said: “Rabbi Elazar ben Dordaya is destined for life in the world to come” (Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 17a).

Hands cupped around a small flame in a glass, set on the stone ledge of a window

6. Teshuva is not magic

Certain misconceptions must be corrected from the outset. The Mishnah is clear:

“One who says: I will sin and do teshuva, I will sin and do teshuva, is not given the means to do teshuva. I will sin and Yom Kippur will atone, Yom Kippur does not atone.”

(Mishnah Yoma 8:9) — הָאוֹמֵר, אֶחֱטָא וְאָשׁוּב, אֶחֱטָא וְאָשׁוּב, אֵין מַסְפִּיקִין בְּיָדוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת תְּשׁוּבָה. אֶחֱטָא וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר, אֵין יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר.

The Talmud reports a more lenient opinion, that of Rabbi (Yehuda HaNasi), according to which Yom Kippur atones even without teshuva, except in three cases (one who casts off the yoke, one who “uncovers his face” with regard to the Torah, and one who nullifies the circumcision); the discussion concludes that, even in this case, teshuva “needs” Kippur, whereas Kippur does not always need teshuva (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 85b). The Rambam holds that Kippur atones for those who return (Hilchot Teshuva 1:3).

Rabbeinu Yonah, for his part, warns that one who postpones his teshuva makes his sin heavier: with each day of delay his punishment grows worse, because he knows he has a refuge and does not run to it; one who repeats the same sin grows accustomed to regarding it as permitted, which makes return harder (Sha’arei Teshuva 1:2; 1:5). We see that the tradition does not despise frailty: it asks for work, not for sudden perfection.

7. When to return? All year round, and above all on the Days of Awe

Every day. “Return one day before your death,” says Rabbi Eliezer (Pirkei Avot 2:10). His students ask him: “But does a person know on what day he will die?” He answers: “All the more reason that he should return today, lest he die tomorrow, and thus he will spend his whole life in teshuva” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 153a). The Rambam echoes this: “Let a person always see himself as close to death” (Hilchot Teshuva 7:2). And: “Even though teshuva and crying out are always good, during the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur it is excellent and accepted immediately, as it is written: ‘Seek the L-rd while He may be found'” (Yeshayahu 55:6; Hilchot Teshuva 2:6). The Talmud specifies: the verse speaks of the individual; the community, for its part, is answered whenever it cries out (Rosh Hashanah 18a).

Elul. The month before is the time of preparation. Sephardim rise at dawn for selichot (prayers of supplication) from Rosh Chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur; Ashkenazim begin selichot only on the Sunday before Rosh Hashanah (or that of the previous week if Rosh Hashanah falls on a Monday or Tuesday) and blow the shofar after the morning service from Rosh Chodesh on (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 581:1, and gloss of the Rema). The selichot take up the attributes of mercy of Shemot [Exodus] 34:6-7, in which, the Talmud says, G-d wrapped Himself like a prayer leader and showed Moshe the order of prayer: “Whenever Israel sins, let them act before Me according to this order and I will forgive them” (Rosh Hashanah 17b).

Rosh Hashanah. Three books are opened: that of the completely righteous (inscribed and sealed for life), that of the completely wicked (for death), and that of the intermediate, “suspended from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur” (Rosh Hashanah 16b, Rabbi Yochanan). The shofar is a wake-up call: “Awake, you sleepers, from your sleep! Examine your deeds, return in teshuva and remember your Creator” (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 3:4). The Rambam adds that each person should see himself “as half guilty, half innocent,” so that a single deed can tip the scale (3:4; Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 40b).

The ten days and Kippur. The Rema writes that during these days everyone must “search his deeds and return from them,” and that a doubtful sin calls for more teshuva than a certain one, because regret is stronger when one knows one has sinned (Orach Chaim 603:1). On the eve of Kippur, at Mincha, the vidui is said before the meal that precedes the fast (Orach Chaim 607:1); and the same vidui is repeated every year, even when one has remained in one’s teshuva: “My sin is always before me” (Tehillim [Psalms] 51:5; Rambam 2:8).

Customs that differ. Two customs of these days divide the halakhic authorities. Kapparot, the rite of the eve of Kippur in which a rooster is swung over one’s head: the Shulchan Aruch writes that “this custom should be prevented,” whereas the Rema replies that many authorities have reported it, that it is followed “in these lands” and should not be changed, recommending that the value of the fowl be given to the poor (Orach Chaim 605:1). Tashlich, the Rosh Hashanah rite in which one goes to the water to say the verse “You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Michah 7:19), is reported in the gloss of the Rema (Orach Chaim 583:2). In case of doubt, follow the custom of your community.

8. Before the world, or at work in history

A preexisting teshuva. A Talmudic tradition makes teshuva one of the seven things created before the world: “Seven things were created before the world: the Torah, teshuva, the Garden of Eden, Gehinnom, the Throne of Glory, the Temple and the name of Mashiach” (Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 54a, with the verses Tehillim 90:2-3: “Before the mountains were born (…) You return man to dust and say: return, children of Adam”). The meaning is profound: the possibility of recovering oneself is not a patch added after the sin; it is in the plan of creation.

The first penitent? A midrash tells that Adam met Kayin, who was coming out from his judgment. “How did your judgment go?” “I did teshuva and was settled.” Adam struck his face: “Such is the power of teshuva and I did not know it!” and he immediately recited “Mizmor shir leyom haShabbat” (Bereshit Rabbah 22:13). This is aggadah (a moral narrative), not halakha.

Readings by thinkers. Rav Kook devoted a collection of reflections to teshuva, Orot HaTeshuva. The Chassidic Tanya devotes its fourth part to teshuva (Igeret HaTeshuva), and Rav Soloveitchik left discourses collected by Pinchas Peli (Soloveitchik on Repentance). We cite them only as pointers: halakha does not depend on them.

The 974 generations. The Talmud reports, in the name of Rabbi Shimon HaChasid, that 974 generations “were cut short” before being created (Chagigah 13b; see Zevachim 116a). Rav Benizri uses this to say that imperfection is inscribed in creation, and that teshuva therefore had to precede it (see below).

9. A little history

From the Temple to teshuva alone. In the time of the Temple, Yom Kippur included a service described by the Torah: the High Priest confessed the sins of Israel over the scapegoat (Vayikra 16:21). The Rambam recalls that the scapegoat atoned for all the sins of the Torah, but only for those who had done teshuva (Hilchot Teshuva 1:2). After the destruction: “In our time, when the Temple no longer exists and we have no altar of atonement, only teshuva remains. Teshuva atones for all sins” (Hilchot Teshuva 1:3). Return and prayer thus take the place of sacrifice.

10. What Rav Raphaël Benizri teaches

Rav Raphaël Benizri often returns to teshuva in his lectures for Elul, Yom Kippur and the weekly parasha. What follows is taken from these oral lectures published on this site.

A return on three levels. In Elul: rediscovering one’s sources, the Rav explains that “the ten days of teshuva last only ten days; their preparation, however, takes a whole month.” The return is verified on three levels: toward oneself (shedding the “envelopes” of fashion and conformity to find what characterizes us), toward the Creator (through prayer) and toward one’s fellow, in whom a spark of light has been placed just as in me. He also distinguishes two qualities of forgiveness: being forgiven and no longer being entrusted with anything, or being forgiven and receiving the possibility of asserting oneself more; it is this kind of teshuva, he says, that we aspire to.
Teshuva precedes the world. In Bereshit: the beginning of Creation, he ranks teshuva among the elements conceived before creation: man was not to be condemned for life by his sins. He relates there the midrash of Adam and Kayin (Bereshit Rabbah 22:13), and notes that the word Shabbat contains the verb shuv, “to return.”
Four answers to sin. In Yom Kippur: the book of Yonah and teshuva, he opens with the midrash in which Wisdom, Prophecy, the Torah and then G-d Himself are asked the fate of the sinner; only G-d answers: “let him do teshuva and he will be forgiven” (see Jerusalem Talmud, Makkot 2:6). Teshuva is not magic, he stresses: life goes on the day after Kippur, and true teshuva consists in choosing one specific weakness and deciding not to yield to it.
From the couple to father and son. In Elul: the role of man, Rosh Hashanah is the relationship of a couple being prepared, Yom Kippur that of a father to his son (“keracheim av al banim,” Tehillim 103:13); teshuva is the impulse that rises “from below.”
Sin and repentance, two facts of man. In Shavuot: the festival of oaths, the Rav observes that neither sin nor repentance was foreseen in creation; King David gives repentance its particular brilliance.

These readings are the Rav’s own; they extend the sources without replacing them.

11. Common misconceptions about teshuva

“Teshuva means becoming observant.” No: teshuva concerns every person, including one who observes everything. The Rambam asks everyone to search out their bad dispositions (anger, jealousy, pride) and return from them (Hilchot Teshuva 7:3). The term “baal teshuva” designates one who has returned from a sin; it does not designate a sociological category.

“Yom Kippur erases everything automatically.” No: teshuva is required, and for wrongs against others one must first appease the person (Mishnah Yoma 8:9; Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 2:9).

“Some sins are unforgivable.” No: the Rambam recognizes degrees of atonement (1:4) and obstacles to teshuva (chapter 4), but concludes that these obstacles “do not prevent” return (4:6). Rabbeinu Yonah says that G-d “has not closed the doors of teshuva” (Sha’arei Teshuva 1:1).

“One must go through an intermediary.” The Torah asks us to confess “before G-d” (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 1:1; Hoshea 14:3: “Take words with you”). Rabbi Akiva says: “Before whom do you purify yourselves, and who purifies you? Your Father in heaven” (Mishnah Yoma 8:9). For making amends to others, on the other hand, one must be reconciled with the person wronged.

12. Frequently asked questions about teshuva

What are the steps of teshuva?

According to the Rambam: abandon the sin, regret it, resolve not to commit it again, and confess it aloud before G-d (Hilchot Teshuva 1:1; 2:2). If there is a wrong against another person, add reparation and a request for forgiveness (2:9).

How do I ask forgiveness from someone I have hurt?

One goes to them, repairs what can be repaired and asks forgiveness, even for an offense in words. If they refuse, one returns accompanied by three people, up to three times (Rambam 2:9; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 606:1). Beyond that, one is no longer obliged to approach them, but the Rema recommends saying before ten people that one has asked forgiveness.

Must I confess to a rabbi?

No. Vidui is a confession before G-d (Rambam 1:1); for sins between a person and G-d, there is no need to reveal them (2:5). One may, however, ask a rabbi for advice on how to make amends or what conduct to adopt.

What if I fall back into the same sin?

Rabbeinu Yonah distinguishes an isolated fall from a repeated sin that has become “permitted” in one’s eyes, which makes teshuva harder but does not close it (Sha’arei Teshuva 1:5-6). The Rambam describes complete teshuva as the ability to refrain when the opportunity presents itself again (2:1). Falling back does not prevent one from returning again.

What is teshuva, repentance in Judaism?