Teshuvah: The Power of Return

True regret involves taking full responsibility for one’s misdeeds. To regret the past and then give excuses for oneself, misses the whole point of Teshuvah. For Teshuvah to be complete, one must take full responsibility for one’s actions.

More Crucial Now

Teshuvah, usually translated as repentance, but more accurately as return, is a process that permeates the Jewish calendar from the beginning of Elul through Yom Kippur. But at no time is the theme of Teshuvah so prominent as in the Ten Days of Teshuvah in general and the Shabbos Teshuvah (the Sabbath of Teshuvah) in particular.

By Divine providence, the entire country is discussing the issue of repentance. What does it take to procure atonement? How does one change? Should we accept the person wo claims to have repented? These are some of the questions that have been discussed recently.

Fortunately for us, the Jewish religion has had much to say about Teshuvah. Let us begin our discussion with a breakdown of the most important components of Teshuvah as they were understood by our Talmudic sages, Maimonides, R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Basic Requirements for Teshuvah

The most basic requirement for Teshuvah is a resolution for the future. For example: A thief who wishes to repent, must resolve to never steal again. How do we know that he has resolution is sincere? According to Jewish law, his intentions must be supported by action. Obviously, he must return all the stolen goods he has in is possession.

Secondly, he must destroy all the “tools” of his trade. When actions demonstrate his sincere resolve not to commit this crime again, he can once more be accepted into the community and serve as a witness in a court.

But, that resolve is unlikely to endure without the thief truly experiencing remorse and regret for the past.

True regret involves taking full responsibility for one’s misdeeds. To regret the past and then give excuses for oneself, misses the whole point of Teshuvah.

For Teshuvah to be complete, one must take full responsibility for one’s actions.

The Fundamental Level of Teshuvah

However, even the most fleeting thought of resolve to be better in the future suffices for G-d’s forgiveness.

This is clearly the opinion of the Alter Rebbe as explained by the Rebbe and is based on the rulings of Maimonides.

There are two sources in the Talmud that support this conclusion:

The first source is the scenario in the Talmud of one who gives a woman an article of value and tells her he is marrying her with the stipulation that he is a righteous person. It was later discovered that he had just committed a crime. The marriage is still considered valid for perhaps in the few moments between the commission of the crime and the time he made the stipulation he might have harbored a fleeting thought of Teshuvah.

Obviously, this quickie form of Teshuvah is not the ideal Teshuvah but it works to transform one form the state of rasha-being in G-d’s bad graces to the state of tzadikwinning his case and being spared punishment.

The second source is the law in the Talmud that a gambler, who has been invalidated as a witness in a Jewish court, can be reinstated as soon as he breaks his dice. All it takes to regain your legitimacy is the mere demonstration of your resolve for the future.

All the other components of Teshuvah such as remorse for the past are intended to help cleanse the person from the negative energy that one has internalized as a result of the sin. While G-d forgives us even without the remorse, we still want to cleanse ourselves, especially when Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur arrive.

Our Plea to G-d

As we stand before G-d on Rosh Hashanah we humbly say to Him:

“Our Father and King, right now we only have the strength to make a commitment for the future; we’re not strong enough to go through the entire catharsis of Teshuvah.

G-d accepts that and gives us a good and sweet year.

On the Threshold

What was said about Teshuvah is especially relevant as we stand on the threshold a New Age, the Age of Redemption.

Some say that they are not ready for Moshiach and Redemption for they have not yet cleansed themselves sufficiently.

In general, this is a callous statement because it implies that the whole world with all of its pain and suffering has to wait before one individual is ready.

But, more specifically, G-d wants us to simply make a commitment for the future that we want Him to be our King and be revealed. G-d wants us to implore Him to bring an end to the pain and suffering and the compromised spirituality that we experience.

Once Moshiach is here we will then work on cleansing and purifying ourselves.

Right now G-d wants us to want a change for the future.

From the book Light from the Future: Rosh Hashanah by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.