Questions tagged [repentance-teshuvah]
Questions pertaining to repentance for one's past sins and transgressions and the concept of teshuvah
179
questions
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24 views
Asking forgiveness from a deceased person who has no gravesite
The Rambam in Hilchos Teshuvah 2:9 writes:
הַחוֹטֵא לַחֲבֵרוֹ וּמֵת חֲבֵרוֹ קֹדֶם שֶׁיְּבַקֵּשׁ מְחִילָה מֵבִיא עֲשָׂרָה בְּנֵי אָדָם וּמַעֲמִידָן עַל קִבְרוֹ וְיֹאמַר בִּפְנֵיהֶם חָטָאתִי לַה' ...
6
votes
1answer
81 views
Why is a person who refuses to forgive another considered a sinner?
The Rambam Hilchos Teshuvah 2:9 writes about what to do when asking for forgiveness from a person who won't grant it:
אֲפִלּוּ לֹא הִקְנִיט אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ אֶלָּא בִּדְבָרִים צָרִיךְ לְפַיְּסוֹ ...
1
vote
2answers
69 views
Can a mute person do teshuva?
The Rambam in Hilchos Teshuvah 1:1 tells us that saying vidui (confessing) is an integral part of the teshuva process:
כָּל מִצְוֹת שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה בֵּין עֲשֵׂה בֵּין לֹא תַּעֲשֶׂה אִם עָבַר אָדָם ...
5
votes
1answer
61 views
How to make oneself regret a sin?
As we know, regret is part of teshuvah. However, sometimes even though we understand logically that what we've done is wrong, we may not always sincerely regret it. In such case, two questions arise:
...
3
votes
0answers
67 views
Are you obligated to ask forgiveness from someone if they don't know you sinned against them?
According to the laws of repentance, is one obligated to ask forgiveness for interpersonal sins the victim is unaware of?
For instance, suppose someone cursed their fellow "behind their back", and in ...
3
votes
0answers
27 views
If one entices someone to sin (i.e mesit) are they liable to induce them to not commit the sin and/or follow the commands as part of repentance?
If someone was a mesit (i.e an enticer) and tried to influence someone to commit a sin, as part of that person's repentance, are they liable to track that person down and try and convince them not to ...
2
votes
1answer
59 views
Why did God not accept the people's repentance in the days of King Yoshiyahu?
After a disastrous 57 years (the reigns of Menashe and his son Amon), during which idolatry was rampant in Judah and Judaism was threatened with extinction, the good king Yoshiyahu comes on the scene ...
1
vote
1answer
49 views
Why Dor Hamidbar weren't given a chance to repent?
This probably echoes "why-G-d-didnt-give-adam-chance-to-repent".
I'm trying to empathize Dor Hamidbar and try to imagine how would they feel, doomed by G-d Himself to die pointlessly in the ...
2
votes
0answers
28 views
Breaking one’s word to God
When someone wishes to repent it’s standard practice to ask HaShem for forgiveness while assuring Him that you won’t repeat the sin. But what if that person slips up & repeats the sin, is it ...
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votes
1answer
70 views
Why must a convicted Jew be executed immediately?
Here are some speculations why I would think Judaism would never execute [rightfully] convicted Jews right away:
We don't like killing people (even those who deserve it) and try everything within our ...
1
vote
2answers
79 views
Is Rabeinu Yonah at all encouraging wasting any food?
Rabeinu Yonah discusses one of the ways of repentance as leaving a little food over after the meal.
אך בעת מאכלו ועודנו תאב לאכול יניח ממנו לכבוד הבורא מתאוותיו, ואל יאכל כפי תאוותו. ודרך זה ...
8
votes
2answers
161 views
Elisha ben Abuya and Repentance
Talmud Bavli in Chagigah 15a says:
ת"ר מעשה באחר שהיה רוכב על הסוס בשבת והיה רבי מאיר מהלך אחריו ללמוד
תורה מפיו אמר לו מאיר חזור לאחריך שכבר שיערתי בעקבי סוסי עד כאן תחום
שבת א"ל אף אתה חזור ...
6
votes
1answer
95 views
Why didn't Adam ask for forgiveness?
From the short negotiation between Adam and G-d it is clear that Adam is not asking for forgiveness.
So why didn't he ask for forgiveness?
0
votes
0answers
39 views
Why G-d didn't give Adam time/chance to repent?
If I understand the Midrash and the verses correctly, G-d judged Adam straight away after he sinned and expelled them from Eden (see Avos dR"N 1,8):
...תשיעית הכניסו לגן עדן.
עשירית צוהו.
אחד ...
3
votes
5answers
158 views
Is it forbidden to help idolaters become righteous Noahides?
I heard from a Rabbi who cited Rambam that it is forbidden to help idolaters do teshuvah.
Does that mean it is forbidden to persuade them that they follow fake religions and that Judaism is the only ...
7
votes
3answers
88 views
Golden Calf. Moshe asks for forgiveness for the people. But they have not repented?
The people sinned with the Golden Calf. Three thousand people who worshipped it were slain by the Leviim Shmos 32 (28).
Then Moshe says to the remainder Shmos 32 (30)
The next day Moses said to ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
Was Reuben's repentance accepted? If not, why not?
The midrash (Bereshit Rabba 84:19) indicates that Reuben did teshuva (repentance) for sleeping with his father's concubine Bilhah (Bereshit 35:22). However in both Yaakov's blessing (ibid 49:3-4) and ...
2
votes
2answers
156 views
Teshuva for adultery for a Non-Jew?
What is the proper teshuva for a non-Jew who had intimate relations with a married woman (non-Jew as well)?
3
votes
2answers
85 views
Did Rambam say that God closes the gate of Teshuvah?
R' Yossi Mizrachi mentions in a YouTube video that the Rambam (Maimonides) writes in Hilchos Teshuvah:
The biggest punishment to a Jew is God closing the gate of teshuvah (repentance) in his face.
...
2
votes
0answers
61 views
What is the Jewish belief about atonement for suicide?
Is it possible that the sin of suicide is not forgiveable because the person is no longer living and cannot perform teshuvah? Can the soul repent once it has left this world?
(I did see a question ...
0
votes
2answers
82 views
Teshuva and spilling cold water on one's body
To repent can you pour cold water on yourself in the shower. With a pot or something while having teshuva in mind for the sin? Does it do anything? Like I’ve heard people do it before Yom Kippur. Can ...
3
votes
2answers
99 views
Can a sin be completely cleaned?
If a person does a sin, is it possible to completely clean it in the spiritual and physical worlds as it never happened and fix all the damages it caused?
What are the sources that prove that? Are ...
2
votes
3answers
82 views
Illness in certain part of body
I remember hearing that if someone has a sickness, disease, or ailment in a specific part of the body, they should do specific cheshbon nefesh regarding that area of their body. For instance, if a ...
2
votes
3answers
114 views
Sleeping and listening to something that's a Mitzvah
Is there anything that someone can listen to that is as if he is doing mitzvot or good things or even teshuva while he is trying to sleep or asleep?
I’ve heard subconsciously you still realize ...
2
votes
0answers
154 views
Teshuva for intercourse with non Jew [duplicate]
This question is different than the one people think is a duplicate because the other one doesn’t necessarily answer the questions I’m asking.
If someone has intercourse with a non Jew even if he ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Must a person do Teshuvah on sins done by previous Gilgulim?
I see that the Chayei Adam in Shabbos and Yom Tov Klal 143, in his explanation for Vidui and ideas for sins to include on the list, has an interesting note for the sins beginning with Beis (...
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votes
2answers
70 views
Hashem as the judge vs His omniscience
How can Hashem's role as the Supreme Judge on the High Holidays be reconciled with His omniscience:
On one hand, we picture Him as He weighs the Mitzvot and the sins and awaits for our Teshuvah for ...
4
votes
1answer
69 views
Weekdays atoning for Weekdays during the year
I have heard from a few speakers that during the week before Rosh Hashana (some versions say that it is the week of Aseres Yemei Teshuvah), each day of the week that one does Teshuvah and acts ...
2
votes
1answer
40 views
Is one allowed to ask forgiveness for a misdeed he committed towards another before he/ she was bar/ bat mitzvah?
Is one before bar/ bat mitzvah obligated (or allowed) to ask forgiveness for misdeeds, as they are not entirely accountable for them (source needed: that one’s averot are upon the father until the age ...
6
votes
1answer
113 views
Where do we first see Elul as a time for repentance?
Today, the month of Elul is seen as being an introduction to the period of the High Holy Days (Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur).
For instance, Tur Orach Chaim 581:
התקינו חז"ל שיהו תוקעין בר"ח אלול ...
2
votes
1answer
451 views
What are the consequences of homosexuality?
We all know that homosexual intercourse is forbidden in Judaism (directly from Torah).
But that it also has consequences in the spiritual world as everything in the physical realm has its ...
3
votes
1answer
52 views
Does someone who does teshuvah get answered only after he prays or even before?
The Rambam in hilchos teshuvah (7:7) states:
כמה מעולה מעלת התשובה אמש היה זה מובדל מה' אלהי ישראל... צועק ואינו נענה שנאמר [גם] כי תרבו תפלה [אינני שומע ...
והיום הוא מודבק בשכינה... צועק ונענה מיד ...
8
votes
5answers
2k views
Someone in authority apologizes?
I am looking for examples where someone in authority apologizes to someone lower than him. I am specifically looking for examples where we know that the authority figure is someone to emulate (eg. the ...
13
votes
1answer
135 views
Hakanah; Teshuva Process
I'm reading the Artscroll biography Reb Elyah. It mentions that he completed a six year Teshuva process known as Hakanah, which includes almost constant fasting and other acts out of love for Hashem, ...
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votes
4answers
227 views
Can a believer in Jesus do teshuvah [closed]
I believe in Jesus and also believe in the way the Jewish faith see God so I am asking how can I do teshuvah while not losing my faith? Is it the same steps since I’m a gentile?
4
votes
2answers
186 views
Teshuva for gentiles
What is teshuva for non Jews? Im Christian and have broken some laws of Noah, so does praying for forgiveness as a Christian and not doing the sin constitute teshuva for me? Or is just feeling regret ...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
The Rambam's “Complete Repentence” + halachical logistics
In Chapter 2 of the Mishnah Torah on Repentance, the Rambam presents an achingly romantic view of "Complete Repentance" (doubly romantic as it involves love between both a man and a woman and a man ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
Adam and Chava's lack of repentance
I searched but did not find this exact question. Were Adam and Chava's expulsion also in part due to their lack of repentance or was it specifically because of their disobedience?
2
votes
1answer
73 views
If I'm unconscious about it should I still apologise?
Someone else points out to me that I have hurt another person by something I've done or said, but any of the following apply, then how should I deal with it? How should I react?
1) I'm unaware of it ...
2
votes
1answer
211 views
Source wanted: Talmudic story about the power of teshuvah
The story is about a man who lived his life sinning and rebelling against God. I remember his sins being sexual in nature. Then the last minute before his death he did Teshuvah and God forgave him ...
2
votes
0answers
74 views
Is one exempt from asking forgiveness for a sin against another if the result of that apology could lead to greater consequences for the community?
To get to the specifics:
A Jew sinned against someone but that person may not actually be aware of it. (Lets use the example that you stole from his shop and he never noticed)
In the scenario I'm ...
5
votes
2answers
302 views
When can repentance be considered complete?
When can repentance be considered complete?
When you feel bad and resolve not to do it again. (No.)
The above, plus make restitution. (Maybe.)
All the above, plus ask and receive forgiveness. (Maybe....
1
vote
3answers
414 views
Can one reach the point where he can no longer do teshuvah?
If someone caused pain to multiple people or caused irreversible damage, can he possibly be in a situation where he can no longer do teshuvah? If so, what does hashem want from him at this juncture?
2
votes
1answer
106 views
Where can I see the letter/proclamation the Chafetz Chaim wrote about the major natural disasters in his time?
There were multiple large natural disasters in the past two months. The Jewish newspapers referenced a letter from the Chafetz Chaim saying that HaShem does natural phenomena in the world to spur us ...
5
votes
1answer
149 views
Why wouldn’t G-d allow the decree against the Asarah Harugei Malchus to be overturned?
In general, a bad decree from G-d can be overturned through repentance and davening, while a good one can never be revoked. (This is a major theme in the books of Yirmiya and Yonah, among others.)
...
1
vote
0answers
33 views
Teshuvah: How to return or going back to one's true nature?
In the 5th bracha of the Amidah, we request from HaShem "our father" (אבינו), to return us (השיבנו) we mention three kinds of Teshuvah – 1. returning to HaShem, 2.returning to the Torah, and 3. ...
1
vote
1answer
46 views
Regret, remorsefull, repentance
They all seem to deal with some part of a process of reconciliation but could someone explain the difference between Teshuvah (תשובה) Charatah (חרטה) and L'hiNachem (להינחם) ?
7
votes
1answer
70 views
Does a blanket request for forgiveness effect teshuva?
As Yom Kippur approaches each year, I often see people in leadership positions make blanket requests like "if I have hurt any of you this year, I ask that you forgive me". Are these requests in any ...
3
votes
3answers
124 views
Is someone required to ask forgiveness if he causes tangential discomfort to another?
My son relayed this to me a few days ago.
When he was in yeshiva high school, the principal would enter each classes a few days before Yom Kippur and tell all the students that he was sorry if he may ...
3
votes
3answers
261 views
Is there a Rabbinical argument that Hashem holds Baal Teshuva to a different standard from those born in observant households?
This question may sound strange but I'm attempting to find a source for an argument I heard made by someone very recently. I'm assuming this is a known argument which I'm just unfamiliar with the ...
