Group None

repentance on all sinsWhether or not repentance is effective for all sins, I will answer this question as follows: Sins are of two categories.

(1) Sins between man and G-d only. For example, denying the existence of G-d, bad thoughts, bad interior, transgressing negative commandments which apply to the heart, and many of the commandments on the limbs, where the sinner hurts only himself, and his only sin is to transgress the commandment of G-d.

(2) Sins between man and his fellow. These have matters of oppression and wickedness towards other people, whether to their bodies, possessions or reputation. In these, the sinner combines two forms of affliction: one, for himself in rebelling against G-d and two in afflicting other people.

The sins which are between man and G-d alone, it is possible to repent on them during the whole of his lifetime, whenever he arouses himself from his lacking, and endeavors to turn away from his sin and repent to the Creator.

If possible, it is proper that his repentance from the sin be related to the sin he did. For example, if his sin was in the duties of the heart, such as maintaining a bad heart, evil thoughts, bearing a grudge, jealousy, hatred or the like, the proper repentance for this consists of cultivating a good heart and good thoughts, love of doing good to others, and forgiving them.

If his sin was in the physical limbs, such as eating what the Creator forbade to eat, forbidden relations, transgressing the Sabbath or the festivals, or false oaths, it is proper for his repentance to refer to the particular sinful act and also to the class the act belongs to. All the while, he should have intent of heart towards G-d.

All this is possible for a man during his lifetime, if he lives long enough, and only if his intent is to repent and cleanse his soul of its sin before his Creator. Concerning such a penitent, the wise man said: "If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it" (Mishlei 9:12).

But for the sins towards both G-d and man, it will be difficult to repent for several reasons:

1. He may not be able to find the person he oppressed, or the person died or moved far away.

2. The oppressor lost the money, and he is not able to return it to the oppressed.

3. Perhaps the oppressed will not forgive him for what he oppressed him or hurt him physically, or spoke badly of him.

4. The oppressor may not know whom he oppressed, or he does not know the amount of money involved. For example, if he oppressed the people of a city or a province, and he does not recognize them, and he does not know the amount of money he took from them wrongfully.

5. The forbidden money was mixed with a much greater amount of permitted money, and he cannot return it without incurring a much greater loss, as our sages said: "One who stole a beam and used it in the building of a palace. Beit Shamai says: 'dismantle the palace and return the beam', Beit Hillel says: 'he can return the value of the beam only, because of the enactment for the penitent' " (Gitin 55a).

6. That the repentance becomes too difficult for him, such as when a person became accustomed to doing it until the bad deed attached to him and became part of his nature, and it will not be easy for him to abandon it, as written: "they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity" (Yirmiya 9:4), and "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? [then may you also do good, those that are accustomed to doing evil]" (Yirmiya 13:23).

7. Spilling blood or killing the innocent, whether he killed them directly or whether he caused their deaths through slander, as you know of the matter of Doeg and the city of Kohanim, who caused them to be sentenced to death first through his slander, and later executed them himself, as written: "Then the king said to Doeg, 'You turn around and attack the priests.' And Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests, and he killed that day eighty-five men who wore the linen priestly ephod" (Shmuel 22:18).

8. One who causes his fellow to lose money on account of slander, his repentance does not avail until he makes amends with him, whether by paying him or by beseeching him with words and humbling himself before him to forgive him and pardon his wrong, as written: "and those who ate the flesh of My people and did flay the skin from upon them...then they shall cry out to the L-ord, but He will not answer them" (Micha 3:3).

9. One who had forbidden relations (punishable by Kores) and fathers a mamzer (illegitimate child) - the disgrace will never leave, and the wrong cannot be corrected, as written: "For that is lewdness, and it is iniquity to be punished by the judges; For it is fire; it consumes to destruction" (Iyov 31:11), and "They betrayed the L-ord for they begot strange children" (Hoshea 5:7).

10. One who habituated his tongue to lie and to speak of the faults of others, and to denigrate them. For he cannot remember all of what he said and all those who he spoke about due to the countless words, and forgetting the people he spoke against. It is all guarded against him and recorded in the book of his sins. On him it is said: "And if he comes to see me, he speaks vanity: his heart gathers iniquity to itself; when he goes abroad, he tells it" (Tehilim 41:7), and "When you saw a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers"(Tehilim 50:18), and the rest of the matter. Behold, the verse equated evil speech with theft and adultery. So too, it is said "they deceive (corrupt) one another and do not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies, they commit iniquity until they are weary" (Yirmiya 9:4).

11. One for who repentance will be extremely hard for him: he who enticed people with a false religion that he invented and influenced them to believe in it. He sinned and caused others to sin, the more people join his false beliefs, the more his sin will increase and be multiplied over, as the sages said: "Whoever leads the masses in the right path will not come to any sin, but whoever leads the masses astray will not be able to repent for all the wrong he commits.. Yeravam ben Nevat, sinned and caused the multitude to sin, and so the sin of the masses is ascribed to him as it is written (I Kings 15:30) 'Because of the sins of Yeravam that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit.' " (Avos 5:18)

Included in this last category is one who is capable of bringing others to the good and steer the erring away from evil, but refrains from doing so due to hoping to receive money from them or due to being afraid of them, or being ashamed to rebuke them, and they went off, and he did not teach them the right way, as written: "if you do not speak to warn the wicked, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; and I will hold you accountable for their blood" (Yechezkel 33:8).