הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ ה' ׀ אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ ונשוב [וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה] חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם׃
Return us, Adonai, to You, and we will return; Renew our days as in the beginning.
hadesh yameynu kekedem
תניא שבעה דברים נבראו קודם שנברא העולם ואלו הן תורה ותשובה וגן עדן וגיהנם וכסא הכבוד ובית המקדש ושמו של משיח
Seven phenomena were created before the world was created, and they are: Torah, and repentance, and the Garden of Eden, and Gehenna, and the Throne of Glory, and the Temple, and the name of Messiah.
(ו) ... רַבִּי הוֹשַׁעְיָה אָמַר ... כָּל מַה שֶּׁנִּבְרָא בְּשֵׁשֶׁת יְמֵי בְרֵאשִׁית צְרִיכִין עֲשִׂיָה, כְּגוֹן הַחַרְדָּל צָרִיךְ לְמִתּוּק. הַתּוּרְמוּסִים צָרִיךְ לְמִתּוּק. הַחִטִּין צְרִיכִין לְהִטָּחֵן. אֲפִלּוּ אָדָם צָרִיךְ תִּקּוּן.
(6) ...Rabbi Hoshayah ..said: Anything created in the first six days, needs further actions, for example mustard seeds need sweetening, peas needs sweetening, wheat needs grinding, even humans need (tikkun) fixing.
Adin Steinsaltz, trans. by Michael Swirsky, pp 3-4.
Broadly defined, teshuvah is more than just repentance from sin; it is a spiritual reawakening, a desire to strengthen the connection between oneself and the sacred. The effectiveness of teshuvah is thus frequently a function of one's sense of distance from the sacred. The greater the distance, the greater the potential movement towards renewed connectedness. As one Jewish sage put it, A rope that is cut and retied is doubly strong at the point where it was severed.... All forms of teshuvah, however diverse and complex, have a common core: the belief that human beings have it in their power to effect inward change.
The angels sealed the window of heaven so that the prayers of Manasseh would not ascend to God. The angels said, "Master of the world, here is a man who worshipped pagan gods and set up an idol in the Temple! How can you accept his teshuvah!?!" God replied, "If I do not accept his teshuvah I would be closing a door for all baa'lei teshuvah." What did God do? S/He dug an opening beneath the Throne of Glory and accepted Manasseh's supplication.
...a person needs to find … within himself that bit of goodness … Even when he looks inside and at first it seems that there is no goodness at all within, that everything is full of sin. And he wants simply to give up and drown himself in sadness... even so it is forbidden to give in to despair. He needs instead to search and find within himself some tiny bit of goodness – for how can it be possible that in all of his life he has never done some good deed? Some mitzvah?
And even if he finds the good deed and sees the holes in it – the impure motives, the imperfections – still, it must be that there lies within it some tiny nekudah tovah – some tiny point of goodness. He must focus there, and enliven himself with that point of goodness, and there is where his teshuvah begins… And from there he must keep looking, and find another point, and another… like the notes of a melody, he shall gather them together until they form a song. That is the song he shall sing as his prayer before the Creator…
(ט) אֵין הַתְּשׁוּבָה וְלֹא יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפְּרִין אֶלָּא עַל עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַמָּקוֹם כְּגוֹן מִי שֶׁאָכַל דָּבָר אָסוּר אוֹ בָּעַל בְּעִילָה אֲסוּרָה וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן. אֲבָל עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ כְּגוֹן הַחוֹבֵל אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ אוֹ הַמְקַלֵּל חֲבֵרוֹ אוֹ גּוֹזְלוֹ וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן אֵינוֹ נִמְחַל לוֹ לְעוֹלָם עַד שֶׁיִּתֵּן לַחֲבֵרוֹ מַה שֶּׁהוּא חַיָּב לוֹ וִירַצֵּהוּ. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהֶחֱזִיר לוֹ מָמוֹן שֶׁהוּא חַיָּב לוֹ צָרִיךְ לְרַצּוֹתוֹ וְלִשְׁאל מִמֶּנּוּ שֶׁיִּמְחל לוֹ. אֲפִלּוּ לֹא הִקְנִיט אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ אֶלָּא בִּדְבָרִים צָרִיךְ לְפַיְּסוֹ וְלִפְגֹּעַ בּוֹ עַד שֶׁיִּמְחל לוֹ. לֹא רָצָה חֲבֵרוֹ לִמְחל לוֹ מֵבִיא לוֹ שׁוּרָה שֶׁל שְׁלֹשָׁה בְּנֵי אָדָם מֵרֵעָיו וּפוֹגְעִין בּוֹ וּמְבַקְּשִׁין מִמֶּנּוּ. לֹא נִתְרַצָּה לָהֶן מֵבִיא לוֹ שְׁנִיָּה וּשְׁלִישִׁית. לֹא רָצָה מְנִיחוֹ וְהוֹלֵךְ לוֹ וְזֶה שֶׁלֹּא מָחַל הוּא הַחוֹטֵא. וְאִם הָיָה רַבּוֹ הוֹלֵךְ וּבָא אֲפִלּוּ אֶלֶף פְּעָמִים עַד שֶׁיִּמְחל לוֹ:
(9) Neither repentance nor the Day of Atonement atone for any save for sins committed between a person and God, for instance, one who ate forbidden food or committed a forbidden sexual act... but sins between one person and another, for instance, one injures his/her/their neighbor, or curses his/her/their neighbor or plunders, or offends in like matters, is ever not absolved unless s/he/they make(s) restitution of what s/he/they owe(s) and begs forgiveness of the harmed party. And, although s/he/they make restitution of the monetory debt, s/he/they must pacify the harmed party and to beg his/her/their forgiveness. Even if the offense was in words alone, s/he/they must appease him/her/them and implore until the harmed party forgives. If the neighbor refuses to forgive, the one who sinned should bring a group of three witnesses to implore and beg forgiveness. If the harmed party still refuses, the sinner should bring a committee a second and third time, and if the harmed party still does not forgive, the sinner may move on, and the sin then rests upon the one who refuses to forgive...
(א) אֵי זוֹ הִיא תְּשׁוּבָה גְּמוּרָה. זֶה שֶׁבָּא לְיָדוֹ דָּבָר שֶׁעָבַר בּוֹ וְאֶפְשָׁר בְּיָדוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹתוֹ וּפֵרַשׁ וְלֹא עָשָׂה מִפְּנֵי הַתְּשׁוּבָה. לֹא מִיִּרְאָה וְלֹא מִכִּשְׁלוֹן כֹּחַ.
(1) What is complete repentance? The one who once more had the opportunity to repeat a violation, but did not do it because of repentance, not out of fear or lack of strength. ...
What are the implications of the idea that teshuvah existed before Creation itself?
Why would human beings be made in a way that requires tikkun/fixing? What function do your imperfections serve in your life?
Why would the angels reject and God accept the repentance of a terrible sinner?
What are the practical steps to teshuvah according to Maimonides in the last texts?