Question 12, © 2005:
Dr. Whoopse Goldberg has a patient suffering from sin syndrome. Spiritual rehabilitation in the form of teshuvah has been prescribed. How would you diagnose this illness and how would you describe the process of a possible cure?
Jewish Theology indeed offers a way to see the cure of sin syndrome in terms of a return from illness to health, and as a passage from alienation from God to reconciliation with God.[1] What is the understanding of sin according to Jewish theology? “In the Rabbinic scheme sin is averah, from the root avar, ‘to pass over’, i.e. a rejection of God’s will. Man is thought of as being pulled in two different directions; the ‘good inclination’, yetzer ha-tov, pulling him in the direction of the good, the ‘evil inclination’, yetzer ha-ra, towards evil. Sin is the result of allowing the yetzer ha-ra to gain the upper hand.”[2]
Interestingly, though the yetzer ha-ra “is called the ‘evil inclination’, because it can easily lead man to wrong-doing, it is essential to life in that it provides life with its driving power.”[3] Indeed, a Rabbinic Midrash on Genesis 1:31, “And God saw everything that He had made and behold, it was very good”, says that “good” refers to the “good inclination” and “very good” to the “evil inclination”. Without this power driving people to struggle against their environment, life would be only an uncreative, pallid kind of good.[4] In the Rabbinic view the yetzer ha-ra is never destroyed in this life, only subdued.[5] So the “sin-sickness” which can be cured by teshuvah does not consist in the total elimination of the yetzer ha-ra, but by its control and counterbalance against the yetzer ha-tov.
Sins can be found in several levels of seriousness, including heth, or unwitting sin, avon, or intentional sin, and peshah, outright rebellion against God.[6]
What is the process of a possible cure? “The Hebrew word for repentance, teshuvah, means return. Yet it also means answer. Return to God is an answer to Him. For God is not silent. ‘Return O faithless children, says the Lord’ (Jeremiah 3:14).”[7] A person can find "atonement for his sins by repenting of them."[8] According to Maimonides, repentance is “that the sinner relinquishes his sin, removing it from his thoughts and resolving never to do it again and he should feel remorse from his past misdeeds"[9]
What are the premises of the doctrine of repentance? Teshuvah rests upon these five premises:[10]
1. It rests upon a concept of the human being as being a free moral agent, exercising free will to choose between good and evil. “According to the Jewish tradition, every person has within him or her the capacity to do good and evil.[11]
2. Because of free will, “to be human is to sin.” Sin is inevitable for humans as free moral agents. “Judaism recognizes that people are not perfect and that they make mistakes.”[12]
3. Repentance is necessary as a corrective action and attitude.
4. Repentance is available.
5. God is gracious, wants and accepts teshuvah.
What are the steps of teshuvah or repentance? The classical Rabbinic view, espoused by Maimonides, is “that repentance is effected by a sincere resolve to give up the sin and by confession and restitution.”[13] It involves correction of thought, correction of speech, and correction of action.
What are some common obstacles to teshuvah?[14] They include harmful habits, which deprive of moral free choice. Another obstacle is self excuse. Yet another is pride. “Nothing is a greater obstacle to repentance than pride. Before a man can sincerely repent he must be humble enough to admit his faults.”[15]
What are some things that help while pursuing spiritual rehabilitation through teshuvah? One is diligent study of the Torah. The Torah is the “antidote to the poison of the yetzer ha-ra.”[16] Another is observance of the High Holy Days. “Although repentance is of value at any time the penitential season is especially appropriate for this purpose.”[17] “In the Jewish calendar, the Days of Awe are the time of the year when you can make a concerted effort to engage in teshuvah. In fact, this ten-day period is known as Yamim Noraim (Days of Repentance).”[18] Yet another aid in pursuing repentance is times of suffering. When one suffers, “His heart is then broken and he is moved to repent of his sins.”[19]
[1] Byron Sherwin, Teshuvah: Repentance in Jewish Theology (Chicago: Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, 1986), Topic #8, Lecture on audeocassette.
[2] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology (Springfield, New Jersey: Behrman House, 1973), 243.
[3] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 244.
[4] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 244.
[5] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 245.
[6] Byron Sherwin, Teshuvah: Repentance in Jewish Theology, Topic #8, Lecture on audeocassette.
[7] Abraham Joshua Heschel, God In Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1955, 1983), 141.
[8] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 243.
[9] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 249.
[10] Byron Sherwin, Teshuvah:
Repentance in Jewish Theology, Topic #8, Lecture on audeocassette.
[11] Richard Bank, The Everything Judaism Book (Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation, 2002), 110.
[12] Richard Bank, The Everything Judaism Book, 110.
[13] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 250.
[14] Byron Sherwin, Teshuvah: Repentance in Jewish Theology, Topic #8, Lecture on audeocassette.
[15] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 254.
[16] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 245.
[17] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 254.
[18] Richard Bank, The Everything Judaism Book, 110.
[19] Louis Jacobs, A Jewish Theology, 254.