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On Teshuvah

 Rabbi Yochanan said, 'Great is Teshuvah, for it causes a person's verdict to be torn up.' " Rosh HaShanah 17b

"Resh Lakish said, 'Great is Teshuvah, for sins done on purpose are converted to accidental sins.' 

And elsewhere, Resh Lakish said, 'Great is Teshuvah for sins done on purpose are converted to good deeds!?'

 

So which of the above comments is correct?  Are sins converted to a lesser crime?  Or is their punishment erased?  Are they converted to good deeds or just lesser sins?

 

Rabbi Yochanan is speaking about when the sinner repents because they are fearful of Divine punishment.  Resh Lakish is referring to the person who repents out of love for the Almighty. Yoma 86b

Repentance comes from different places: it can emerge from fear or love.  And how do we know which one is better?  It is obvious that it is preferable to repent out of love because then God reckons the sin as a mistake, an aberration.  Repentance that comes from fear may erase the punishment but it does nothing to original transgression.

 

  1. Comment: 

Until a person's death, there is no such thing as an irrevocable verdict; no matter how bad a person's behavior was, it is possible for him to have his Heavenly Verdict revoked. 

The resolution is that the first statement is true when the Teshuva is done out of fear of Heavenly punishment; the second is true when the Teshuva is done for the love of G-d."

Comment: 

It is possible to do Teshuva out of two motivations: fear of punishment by the "Heavenly Court" in the "World-to-Come," or out of love of G-d. The Repentance of the second type is so powerful that it can change "sinful acts" done in the past to "good deeds" on a person's Heavenly Record.


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