{"id":46570,"date":"2018-12-29T12:05:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-29T10:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=46570"},"modified":"2022-07-24T08:10:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T05:10:45","slug":"the-importance-of-real-repentance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-importance-of-real-repentance\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance Of Real Repentance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The book of Leviticus details what happens when one Israelite defrauds or steals from another, and then takes a false oath declaring his innocence. In order to make restitution, he must first return what he took and pay to the aggrieved party and then a guilt offering. When all that has been done, Leviticus teaches, \u201che shall be forgiven for whatever he may have done to draw blame thereby\u201d (Leviticus 5:20-26).<\/span><\/p>\n

In Numbers 5, verses 6 to 8, this law is reiterated but with an additional requirement: The reparation must be preceded by confession. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why must the sacrifice be supplemented\u2014and preceded\u2014by confession? Perhaps the Torah worries that people will confuse sacrifice for magic and assume that it works automatically. But repentance requires much more: The requirement of confession makes clear that the sinner \u201cmust humble himself, acknowledge his wrong, and resolve to depart from sin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Our verses tell us what comes before confession: <\/span>Ve-ashmah ha-nefesh ha-hi<\/span><\/em>, which JPS renders as \u201cthat person realizes his guilt.\u201d Bible scholar Jacob Milgrom argues that when the root <\/span>a-sh-m<\/em> <\/span>appears in the Torah without a direct object (as in our case), it \u201crefers to an inner experience of… liability [to someone for reparation], i.e., \u2018to feel guilt.\u2019\u201d Thus, our verses should more correctly be rendered as \u201cwhen that person feels guilt, he shall confess…\u201d If Milgrom is right, then the Torah is unambiguous about its demands of the repentant sinner: A sacrifice must be brought, but the sinner\u2019s \u201cinvolvement, both in conscience and in deed, is a <\/span>sine qua non<\/em> <\/span>for securing divine forgiveness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Internal regret may be useful in repenting from sin, but it does not facilitate return to God. For that we need confession, the risk of relationally reaching out to and for God.<\/span><\/p>\n

R. Eliyahu Dessler (1892-1953) suggests that in attempting to change, \u201cintellectual or emotional revelations are not enough. Rather, one must also express them in words, because when one adds speech to thoughts and feelings, they become firmly established in one\u2019s heart\u201d (<\/span>Mikhtav Me-Eliyahu<\/span><\/i>, vol. 5, p. 260). It is only when I speak words\u2014when I confess my sins\u2014that I open a relational space between me and God. Following the lead of this chapter, Maimonides opens his presentation of the Laws of Repentance by invoking the need for verbal confession of sin. Maimonides insists that this act of opening lies at the very heart of the process of repentance (Laws of Repentance, 1:1). <\/span><\/p>\n

In an understated but immensely powerful way, Numbers 5 provides a paradigm for just this aspiration: When we seek to change our ways, the Torah teaches, we must feel remorse, express it, and act to heal the breaches we have caused, both with God and with the person we have mistreated. <\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":106656,"id":106656,"title":"-62dcd440a4be6--62dcd440a4be7num5-speak confess.jpg","filename":"62dcd440a4be6-62dcd440a4be7num5-speak-confess.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/62dcd440a4be6-62dcd440a4be7num5-speak-confess.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-importance-of-real-repentance\/62dcd440a4be6-62dcd440a4be7num5-speak-confess-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"62dcd440a4be6-62dcd440a4be7num5-speak-confess-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":46570,"date":"2022-07-24 05:10:24","modified":"2022-07-24 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