Teshuva Worksheet

(6) Great, indeed, is repentance for it brings man nigh to the Shekinah, even as it is said: "Return, O Israel, unto the Lord thy God" (Hosea, 14. 2); and it is further said: "Yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord" (Amos, 4.6); and it is yet again said: "If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, yea, return unto Me" (Jer. 4.1), as if saying: "If thou wilt turn in repentance ye will cleave unto Me". Repentance brings near the far apart. But yesterday this sinner was hateful to the presence of God, scorned, ostracized and abominate, and to-day he is beloved, desirable, companionable and a friend. Thou findest, moreover, that in the very language God employs to distance the sinners He employs to bring nigh unto Him the penitent whether the individual or the many, even as it is said: "And it shall come to pass that, instead of that which was said unto them, 'Ye are not My people', it shall be said unto them: 'Ye are the children of the living God'. And, again it is said of Jeconiah: "Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days, (Jer. 22.30) though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon My right hand yet would I pluck thee thence" (Ibid. – 24); but when he repented, being in exile, it is said of his son Zerubbabel: "In that day, saith the lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet" (Haggai, 2.23).⁴Coniah, Jehoiachin, Joiachin, Jeconiah and Jeconiahi are all one and the same king, who in 11. Chr. 36.9 is said to have been eight years old when he ascended the throne of David, and reigned three years and ten days, and in Second Kings, 24.8, is said to have been eighteen years old, and reigned three years. He was the grandfather of Zerubbabel, and was a prisoner thirty-seven years. However, in First Chr. 3.19, it is said that Zerubbabel was the son of Pedaiah, brother of Shealtiel. Maimonides, evidently did not accept this version. G.

(7) How superior is the degree of repentance! But yesterday was this sinner separated from the Lord God of Israel, even as it is said:" But your iniquities have separated between you and your God" (Is. 59.2); cries, but received no answer, even as it is said:" "Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear" (Ibid. 1.15); does obey commandments, but they are thrown back in his face, even as it is said: "Who hath required this at your hand, to trample My courts"? (Ibid.–12), and, "Oh that there were even among you that would shut the doors, that ye might not kindle fire on Mine altar in vain!" (Mal. 1.10). But to-day he is connected with the Shekinah, even as it is said: "But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day" (Deut. 4.4); he cries and receives answer momentarily, even as it is said: "And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer" (Is. 65.24); he observes commandments, and they are received with pleasure and joy, even as it is said: "For God hath already accepted thy works" (Ecc. 9.7); moreover, his works are pleasurably anticipated, even as it is said: "Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years" (Mal. 3.4).

(1) All commandments of the Torah, whether they be mandatory or prohibitive, if a man violates any one of them, either presumptuously or erroneously, when he will repent himself and turn away from his sinful way, he is obliged to confess before God, blessed is He! even as it is said: "When a man or woman shall commit any sin..… Then they shall confess their sin which they have done (Num. 5.6–7), which is a confession of words. Such confession is a mandatory commandment. How is the verbal confession made? The sinner says thus: "I beseech Thee, O Great Name! I have sinned; I have been obstinate; I have committed profanity against Thee, particularly in doing thus and such. Now, behold! I have repented and am ashamed of my actions; forever will I not relapse into this thing again." This is the elementary form of confession; but whosoever elaborates in confessing and extends this subject is, indeed, praise-worthy. Likewise all those who bring sin-offerings or trespass-offerings, when they offer their sacrifices, whether for their errors or for their spitefulness, find no atonement in their sacrifices, unless they repent, and deliver themselves of a verbal confession, even as it is said: "He shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing" (Lev. 5.5) So, too, are the guilty upon whom the tribunal pronounced either a sentence of death or of stripes, who find no atonement either in their death or in being lashed unless they do repent and make verbal confession. Even he, who injures his friend or causes him damages in money matters, although he makes restitution of what he owes him, finds no atonement, unless he makes verbal confession and repents by obligating himself never to repeat this again, even as is said: "Any sin that man commits" (Num. 5.6).¹Sifra, Lev. 5; Yoma, 36b; Shebu’ot, 13a; Sanhedrin, 43a; Baba Kama, 92b.C.

(2) What is repentance? The sinner shall cease sinning, and remove sin from his thoughts, and wholeheartedly conclude not to revert back to it, even as it is said: "Let the wicked forsake his way" (Is. 55.7); so, too, shall he be remorseful on what was past, even as it is said: "Surely after that I was turned, I repented" (Jer. 31. 19). In addition thereto he should take to witness Him Who knoweth all secrets that forever he will not turn to repeat that sin again, according to what it is said: "Say unto Him.… neither will we call any more the work of our hands our gods" (Hos. 14.3–4). It is, moreover, essential that his confession shall be by spoken words of his lips, and all that which he concluded in his heart shall be formed in speech.²Yoma, 57b; Shabbat, 121. G.

(3) He who confesses by speech but has not his heart's consent to abandon his erstwhile conduct, behold him, he is like one taking an immersion of purification and in his grasp is an impure creeping thing, when he knows the immersion to be of no value till he cast away the impure creeping thing. Even so it is advised to do, saying: "But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall shall obtain mercy" (Pro. 28. 13). In confessing to God, it is obligatory to name the sin, even as it is said: "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them a god of gold" (Ex. 32.31).³Ta’anit, 16a; Yoma, 86b. C.

(11) Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob said: he who performs one commandment acquires for himself one advocate, and he who commits one transgression acquires for himself one accuser. Repentance and good deeds are a shield against punishment. Rabbi Yochanan Hasandlar said: every assembly which is for the sake of heaven, will in the end endure; and every assembly which is not for the sake of heaven, will not endure in the end.

(1) Rabbi Said: which is the straight path that a man should choose for himself? One which is an honor to the person adopting it, and [on account of which] honor [accrues] to him from others. And be careful with a light commandment as with a grave one, for you did know not the reward for the fulfillment of the commandments. Also, reckon the loss [that may be sustained through the fulfillment] of a commandment against the reward [accruing] thereby, and the gain [that may be obtained through the committing] of a transgression against the loss [entailed] thereby. Apply your mind to three things and you will not come into the clutches of sin: Know what there is above you: an eye that sees, an ear that hears, and all your deeds are written in a book.