Teshuvah: The Art of Finding the Way Back

At first glance, the answer seems obvious: improving our ways and turning away from sin. Yet it is fascinating to discover that there is a significant discussion among the Rishonim and Acharonim concerning the very definition of teshuvah—what it means, what a person must actually do in order to fulfill the mitzvah, and how teshuvah cleanses the spiritual effects of sin.
Let us begin with the word itself. What does teshuvah mean?
Many people understand the word according to its simple translation, “an answer.” But the Tanya explains that the word teshuvah means to return—to return to Hashem. Teshuvah is therefore not merely about correcting a particular sin; it is about returning to our true connection with Hashem.

The Rambam
The most famous formulation of the mitzvah of teshuvah is found in the Rambam, in Hilchot Teshuvah (2:2). The Rambam describes that teshuvah consists of several fundamental components. First, a person must have עזיבת החטא, abandon the sin and remove it from his thoughts and intentions. He must then have חרטה, regret what he has done. He must reach קבלה לעתיד, firmly resolve that he will not return to that sin again. And finally, he must perform וידוי, verbally confess before Hashem and express his regret and his commitment to change.
According to the Rambam teshuvah is not merely feeling bad about the past. It requires a person to leave the sin, regret it, resolve not to return to it, and verbalize his teshuvah through vidui.
But when we look beyond the Rambam, we discover that this is not the only way teshuvah is understood. Other Rishonim and Acharonim place the emphasis on different elements, and some appear to understand the very essence of teshuvah differently.

Sefer HaChinuch
The Sefer HaChinuch as explained by the Minchat Chinuch, understands that the torah’s mitzvah is only vidui, confession. However, in order to perform vidui properly, a person must first do teshuvah. According to his understanding, teshuvah itself consists primarily of regret—חרטה—over the sin.
According to this view teshuvah and vidui are not one and the same. Teshuvah is the internal process of regretting the sin, while vidui is a separate mitzvah that requires a person to express that teshuvah verbally before Hashem. Thus, one can do teshuva without vidui.
This is similar to the preparation required for other mitzvot. For example, a person must acquire a lulav before Sukkot in order to be able to perform the mitzvah of lulav. Similarly, a person must first do teshuvah—regret his actions—in order to be able to perform the mitzvah of vidui.
The Minchat Chinuch explains that if a person regrets his sin sincerely in his heart, he has already accomplished the essential act of teshuvah and is considered a baal teshuvah and a Tsadik. However, if he fails to verbalize his regret through vidui, he has not fulfilled the separate mitzvah of vidui.
This is a very different understanding from the Rambam. The Rambam appears to incorporate vidui into the very definition of teshuvah, whereas according to the Sefer HaChinuch teshuvah itself is the inner process of regret, while vidui is the separate mitzvah that follows it.

The Tanya
Another approach is found in the Tanya, in Iggeret HaTeshuvah. There, the Alter Rebbe explains that the essential element of teshuvah is עזיבת החטא—the abandonment of the sin. Once a person sincerely resolves to stop sinning and no longer intends to continue in his wrongdoing, he has already accomplished the fundamental act of teshuvah.
Interestingly, the Tanya does not mention regret or vidui as part of the definition of teshuvah itself. This probably seems to indicate that although regret and vidui are certainly important aspects of the process of teshuvah, they are not what constitutes the essential teshuvah. Rather, they serve to complete, strengthen, and elevate the person's teshuvah.
According to this approach, teshuvah begins with a decision: I will no longer continue on this path. The moment a person sincerely abandons the sin and resolves to return to the proper path, the essential mitzvah of teshuvah has been accomplished.
This gives us yet another understanding of teshuvah. According to the Sefer HaChinuch, as explained by the Minchat Chinuch, the essence of teshuvah is regret. According to the Tanya, the essence is עזיבת החטא—the actual abandonment of the sin. And according to the Rambam, teshuvah encompasses several elements, including abandoning the sin, regret, resolve for the future, and vidui.

Rabbeinu Yonah
Then we come to the approach of Rabbeinu Yonah in Shaarei Teshuvah. Rabbeinu Yonah presents a remarkable and extensive discussion of teshuvah, outlining twenty different steps and levels through which a person can progress in his journey of repentance.
At first glance, this raises an obvious question. If the Rambam teaches that teshuvah involves several essential components, should we understand Rabbeinu Yonah as listing twenty requirements that a person must fulfill in order to perform the mitzvah of teshuvah?

It would seem that this is not the case.

Rather, Rabbeinu Yonah appears to be describing the proper path of teshuvah—the different thoughts, practices, and spiritual stages that guide a person toward genuine repentance and ultimately bring him closer to Hashem. The twenty levels are therefore not necessarily twenty separate conditions without which the mitzvah of teshuvah is incomplete. Rather, they are a roadmap for how a person should approach teshuvah and how he can elevate himself throughout the process.

This distinction is important. There is a difference between asking, “What are the minimum requirements for a person to fulfill the mitzvah of teshuvah?” and asking, “What should a person do if he truly wants to become a בעל תשובה and transform himself?”

The Rambam may be defining the essential components of the mitzvah, while Rabbeinu Yonah is teaching us how to build a complete and meaningful process of teshuvah.
In other words, the twenty levels of Rabbeinu Yonah should not necessarily be viewed as twenty boxes that a person must check before his teshuvah is considered valid. They are guidance for the journey itself—how a person can move from recognizing his wrongdoing, to regretting it, to changing his ways, and ultimately to becoming a different person.

And perhaps this is precisely why Rabbeinu Yonah's Shaarei Teshuvah is so much more than a list of halachic requirements. He is not merely telling us what teshuvah is; he is teaching us how to live the life of a בעל תשובה.
Teshuvah: Cleansing or Command?

There is another fundamental point that is worth understanding. The Rishonim explain that teshuvah is not merely a mitzvah that a person is commanded to perform. It is also the means through which a person cleanses his neshamah from the spiritual damage caused by sin.

When a person sins, his soul gets damaged and stained. Teshuvah is the process through which that damage is removed and the person returns to his previous spiritual state. Rabbeinu Yonah develops this idea in Shaarei Teshuvah by comparing teshuvah to washing a garment that has become soiled. Just as a person washes a soiled garment to restore it to its proper state, so too, teshuvah cleanses a person from the spiritual effects of sin.

According to this approach, teshuvah is not simply about fulfilling a divine command. A person has a spiritual need to cleanse himself from the effects of his sins, and Hashem gave us the process of teshuvah as the way to accomplish that.

The Tanya, however, presents a fundamentally different perspective.
The Alter Rebbe explains that the essential obligation of teshuvah is the abandonment of sin. The fact that teshuvah cleanses a person's neshamah is not what defines the mitzvah, nor is it the reason for which the mitzvah was given. Rather we are commanded to do teshuvah, and when we do, Hashem Himself cleansed our neshamah as a result.

This distinction is subtle but profound.

According to the approach of Rabbeinu Yonah, the cleansing of the neshamah is intrinsic to the very concept of teshuvah. A person has become spiritually soiled through sin, and teshuvah is the process of cleansing and restoring the neshamah.

According to the Tanya, however, we should not define teshuvah as a spiritual cleansing process. Teshuvah is a mitzvah that Hashem commanded us to perform. The cleansing of the neshamah is a result of fulfilling that mitzvah, but it is not the essence or purpose of the mitzvah itself.

This difference gives us an entirely new perspective on teshuvah. It is not only a question of what a person must do to fulfill the mitzvah, but also a question of what teshuvah is actually accomplishing within the person.
Is teshuvah primarily a process of repairing and cleansing the neshamah, or is it fundamentally an act of obedience to Hashem's command, with the spiritual cleansing coming as a consequence?
The answer to this question may help us understand why the Rishonim and Acharonim describe teshuvah in such different ways.

According to the Tanya, since the essence of teshuvah is עזיבת החטא—the abandonment of sin—the person's primary responsibility is to stop sinning and sincerely resolve not to return to his previous ways. The spiritual cleansing of the neshamah is not itself the person's task; once he fulfills Hashem's command to abandon the sin, Hashem takes care of the spiritual repair.

According to the Rambam, however, teshuvah is a process of active repair. Hashem therefore gives us the tools necessary to accomplish that repair: עזיבת החטא, חרטה, קבלה לעתיד, and וידוי. Through these four elements, a person confronts his sin, regrets it, resolves to change, and expresses that transformation through vidui.