Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio

Nobody is perfect, and one of the main points of the Torah is to help us improve ourselves (Bereishit Rabbah 44). One word for this is תְּשׁוּבָה (teshuvah, returning), and it can refer to three related things:

1) fixing a bad action, behavior, or habit

2) improving a character trait

3) coming closer to God

There are ten pesukim in Nitzavim all about teshuvah (Devarim 30:1-10)!

The Talmud emphasizes that it’s never too late for teshuvah. Even if a person only does teshuvah on the last day of their life, if it is genuine and sincere, God will accept it (Kiddushin 40b).

Change can be difficult. Rambam helps by breaking the teshuvah process into steps (Hilkhot Teshuvah 2:2-3):

(1) stopping to do a bad action or behavior that you did

(2) regretting that you did it

(3) confessing what you did, and

(4) promising not to make the same mistakes in the future

All of this only applies if you’re doing teshuvah for something that’s between you and God. But if you hurt another person, then you need to make it up to them and ask for forgiveness (Hilkhot Teshuvah 2:9).

Teshuvah is an opportunity for growth, and for learning from our mistakes. The Gemara (Berakhot 34b) says something pretty cool about it: Being able to learn from mistakes and do teshuvah is somehow even greater than never making mistakes in the first place!

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