Yoma 86b (פו:) — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Great is repentance, for it overrides,

as it were,

a prohibition in the Torah!

For the Congregation of Israel was compared to the wife of the Holy One, blessed be He. After the Holy One, blessed be He, sent her away, and she betrayed Him, and she wishes to return to Him through repentance—the power of repentance overrides the prohibition in the Torah stated concerning a man who divorces his wife and she marries another man: "Her first husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled."

Her first husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled."

As it is stated Jeremiah 3 ]

[Jeremiah 3]

“Saying: If a man sends away his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another man’s,

may he return to her again?

Would not

be guilty

that land

where such deeds were done!

And

if

you

have committed adultery

with

many lovers,

and

nevertheless you can

return to Me—

says the Lord.’”

Rabbi Yonatan said: Great is repentance, for it brings the redemption.

As it is stated Isaiah 59 ],

[Isaiah 59],

“And a redeemer shall come to Zion, and to those who repent of transgression in Jacob.”

What is the reason for “And a redeemer shall come to Zion

”—because

there are

those who repent of transgression in Jacob.

Reish Lakish said: Great is repentance, for intentional sins become for him like unwitting sins.

As it is stated Hosea 14 ]

[Hosea 14],

“Return, Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity.”

The term “iniquity” refers to an intentional sin, and

after repentance

Scripture calls it a “stumbling block

” [“for you have stumbled”], which is an expression referring to an unwitting act, in which one stumbles without intent.

And we challenge this:

Is that so? But Reish Lakish said: Great is repentance, for intentional sins become for him like merits.

As it is stated Ezekiel 33 ]

[Ezekiel 33],

“And when the wicked man turns from his wickedness and performs justice and charity, through them

he shall live,”

by virtue of everything he did—even by virtue of the transgressions, which were transformed for him into merits.

And we resolve:

This is not difficult:

Here—

for one who repents

out of love,

for his sins are transformed into merits.

Here—

for one who repents

out of fear,

for his sins are transformed only into unwitting sins.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Great is repentance, for it lengthens a person’s years.

As it is stated Ezekiel 18 ]

[Ezekiel 18],

“And when the wicked man turns from his wickedness—

he shall surely live.”

Rabbi Yitzḥak said, and they said in the West,

in Eretz Yisrael,

in the name of Rabba bar Mari: Come and see that the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, is unlike the attribute of flesh and blood.

The attribute of flesh and blood:

a person who

provokes his fellow with words—

it is uncertain whether he will be appeased by him or whether he will not be appeased by him.

And

even

if you say

that he

will be appeased by him—

it is uncertain whether he will be appeased by words or whether he will not be appeased by words,

but rather he must compensate him.

But the Holy One, blessed be He,

is not so.

Rather, if

a person commits a sin in private—

He is appeased by words, as it is stated Hosea 14 ]

[Hosea 14],

“Take words with you and return to the Lord.”

Moreover, He considers it a favor on his part, as it is stated: “And take what is good.”

Moreover, Scripture considers it for him

through the appeasing words

as though he had sacrificed bulls, as it is stated Hosea 14 ]

[Hosea 14],

“And we shall repay

instead of sacrificing

bulls—

with the utterance of

our lips.”

Lest you say

that this appeasement is accepted like the sacrifice of

obligatory bulls?

The verse states Hosea 14 ]

[Hosea 14],

“I will heal their backsliding;

I will love them freely.”

Like a freewill offering, which is superior to an obligatory offering.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Meir would say: Great is repentance, for on account of one individual who repents, the entire world is forgiven.

As it is stated Hosea 14 ]

[Hosea 14],

“I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him.”

It does not say “from them,” but rather

“for My anger has turned away”

from him.

This teaches us that the repentance of one individual is sufficient for the Holy One, blessed be He, to heal the backsliding of all of them and to love all of them in the merit of that individual’s repentance.

And the Gemara explains:

What are the circumstances of a penitent?

Rav Yehuda said: For example, when a matter involving a sin

that he had previously stumbled in

comes to his hand for the first and second time, and he is saved from it

on both occasions.

Rav Yehuda demonstrated:

He showed that

Rav Yehuda

regarded a penitent as one who withstood the test and did not sin

with the same woman

with whom he had previously stumbled,

at the same time

and

in the same place

where the sin had occurred.

Rav Yehuda said: Rav raised a contradiction: It is written Psalms 32 ]

[Psalms 32],

“Fortunate is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is concealed.”

This implies that it is preferable for one whose sin is not revealed to one whose sin is revealed.

But it is written

on the other hand Proverbs 28 ]

“He who covers his sins

“He who conceals his sins shall not prosper”!

This is not difficult:

This concerns a publicized sin;

it is preferable that he confess his sin rather than deny it, for his humiliation will assist in his atonement.

This

concerns the preference for concealing the sin—

a sin that is not publicized,

for if he reveals his sin publicly, it will diminish the honor of Heaven, since every publicized sin diminishes the honor of Heaven. Therefore, it is preferable for him to preserve the honor of Heaven rather than reveal that he sinned and be humiliated by it.

Rav Zutra bar Toviyya said that Rav Naḥman

offered another resolution:

Here—

with regard to sins between a person and his fellow,

he must reveal his sin so that others will ask his fellow to forgive him.

Here—

with regard to sins between a person and God,

where he need not ask other people to request forgiveness on his behalf.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yosei bar Yehuda says: If a person commits a sin the first time—

he is forgiven.

The

second time—

he is forgiven.

The

third time—

he is forgiven.

But if he repeats it a

fourth time—

he is not forgiven,

even if he repents for it; rather, he requires another form of atonement.

As it is stated Amos 2 ]

[Amos 2],

“So said the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel

I will forgive them,

but for four—

I will not revoke it,

their repentance will not benefit them.”

And it says: Job 33 ]

[Job 33],

“Indeed, God does all these things

forgives

twice,

three times with a man,”

but not a fourth time.

What is the purpose of “and it says”?

Why is the first verse insufficient?

This is what it is saying:

And should you say: This matter

that there is no forgiveness the fourth time applies specifically

to the community

that sinned.

But for an individual—

no,

this principle was not stated at all; therefore

come and hear

another verse that states this principle with regard to an individual as well:

“Indeed, God does all these things twice, three times with a man.”

The Sages taught: With regard to sins that one confessed on this Yom Kippur—

he should not confess them on another Yom Kippur.

And if he repeated them—

he must confess

even the earlier ones on

the

following

Yom Kippur.

And if he did not repeat them, and

nevertheless

he confessed them again—

Scripture says concerning him

: Proverbs 26]

“As a dog returns to its

vomit,

so

does

a fool repeat his folly.”

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: All the more so is he praiseworthy!

As it is stated Psalms 51 ]

[Psalms 51],

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is

always before me.”

The verse teaches that a person should feel as though he has not been forgiven, but rather that his sin remains before him.

And the Gemara explains according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov:

Rather, how do I understand

the verse

“As a dog returns to its

vomit,

so

”?

It is in accordance with the statement of Rav Huna. For Rav Huna said: Once a person commits a sin and repeats it—

it becomes permitted to him.

But

“it becomes permitted to him”—

can it enter your mind

to say that?

Rather, say: It becomes to him like something permitted.

And the beraita continues and says:

And it is necessary

for one who confesses

to specify the sin

during his confession.

As

is stated

with regard to the sin of the Golden Calf, where Moses specified their sin [Exodus 32]:

“Please! This people has committed a great sin: They made themselves gods of gold.”

These are the words of Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava.

Rabbi Akiva says:

He need not specify it, in accordance with the wording of the verse:

“Fortunate is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is concealed.”

And the Gemara explains Rabbi Akiva’s statement:

Rather, what is the meaning of Moses saying

when he specified the sin of the Children of Israel, saying

“They made themselves gods of gold”? —

It is in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Yannai.

Moses intended by these words to lessen the magnitude of their sin, and not to teach that one must specify the sin.

For Rabbi Yannai said: Moses said before the Holy One,

blessed be He: Master of the Universe! The silver and gold that You lavished upon Israel

so abundantly

until they said, “Enough,” —

caused them to make gods of gold.

And the beraita adds with regard to publicizing the sin:

Two good leaders arose for Israel: Moses and David.

Moses said: Let my transgression be recorded

wherever my death is mentioned. He preferred that his sin be remembered.

For example, as

is stated Numbers 20 ]

[Numbers 20],

“Because you did not believe in Me, to sanctify Me,”

and likewise wherever his death is mentioned.

David said: Let my transgression not be recorded.

As it is stated

in the book of Psalms composed by David:

“Fortunate is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is concealed.”

And the Gemara explains the statement in the beraita:

The parable of Moses and David—

to what can the matter be compared?

To two women who were flogged by the court. One acted promiscuously

after having been warned, and she was liable to Torah-sanctioned lashes;

and the other ate unripe seventh-year produce

that had not fully ripened and thereby ruined it, violating the prohibition against ruining seventh-year produce. [These lashes were only rabbinic, since the transgression involved merely a positive prohibition: the produce of the seventh year is designated “for eating,” and not for destruction.]

The one who had eaten unripe seventh-year produce said to them

—to the court, while receiving lashes of rebelliousness by rabbinic ordinance:

Please, tell everyone for what she

[I]

am being flogged, so that they will not say

about me:

For what that woman

who committed adultery

is being flogged,

also

this woman

I

am being flogged.

Bring unripe seventh-year produce, hang it around her neck, and announce before her, saying: For the matter of

seventh-year

produce she is being flogged.

And the beraita continues and cites another halakha concerning publicizing the sin:

We publicize the flatterers the wicked who present themselves as righteous

[the wicked who present themselves as righteous]

because of the profanation of the Name

involved: so that people will not learn from their evil deeds, thinking that this is the proper conduct, since this is how the supposed righteous person behaves. Moreover, when the punishment they deserve befalls them, people will say: What benefit did his merit of righteousness provide him? [Rashi]

As it is stated Ezekiel 3 ]

[Ezekiel 3],

“And when a righteous man turns from his righteousness

and becomes wicked,

and commits injustice,—

I will place a stumbling block before him,”

so that people will now recognize that he is wicked.

And the beraita adds:

The repentance of

the

utterly

wicked—

averts the calamity, even after a decree of calamity has been sealed against him!

The tranquility of the wicked

leads them to contemplate additional wicked deeds, and therefore their tranquility

will ultimately bring misfortune.

And authority government and power

[government and power]

buries its possessors!

He enters it naked and leaves it naked,

and gains nothing from it!

Would that his departure

from the “authority”

be like his entry

into it, so that it does not harm him.

And the Gemara brings an example of the beraita’s statement concerning authority:

Rav,

who was a judge and held judicial authority,

when he would go out to adjudicate a case,

when he went out to judge a case,

would say this

about himself [in the third person]:

By his own will

he is willing

to kill

himself [if he errs in judgment]; he

goes out.

And

if

the will

of

his household were involved—

he would not do it,

for a judge has no livelihood from the judgment itself.

And empty

of money

he goes home

instead of earning a living.

Would that his entry

returning home

be like his departure

to the court.

Rava, when he would go out to adjudicate, would say this: