Can I Sin Today and Repent Tomorrow?

(17) God heard the cry of the boy, and an angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heeded the cry of the boy where he is.

(5) A “wayward and rebellious son” is judged on account of his outcome: let him die innocent and let him not die guilty. For the death of the wicked benefits themselves and the world; [and the death] of the righteous, injures themselves and the world d. Wine and sleep of the wicked benefit themselves and the world; of the righteous, injure themselves and the world The scattering of the wicked benefits themselves and the world; of the righteous, injures themselves and the world. The assembling of the wicked injures themselves and the world; of the righteous, benefits themselves and the world. The tranquillity of the wicked injures themselves and the world; of the righteous, benefits themselves and the world.

(9) One who says: I shall sin and repent, sin and repent, will not have the opportunity to repent. [If one says]: I shall sin and Yom HaKippurim will atone for me, Yom HaKippurim does not effect atonement. For transgressions between man and God Yom HaKippurim effects atonement, but for transgressions between man and his fellow Yom HaKippurim does not effect atonement, until he has pacified his fellow. This was expounded by Rabbi Elazar b. Azariah: “From all your sins before the Lord you shall be clean” (Leviticus 16:30) for transgressions between man and God Yom HaKippurim effects atonement, but for transgressions between man and his fellow Yom HaKippurim does not effect atonement, until he has pacified his fellow.. Rabbi Akiva said: Happy are you, Israel! Who is it before whom you become pure? And who is it that purifies you? Your Father who is in heaven, as it is said: “And I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean” (Ezekiel 36:25). And it further says: “O hope (mikveh) of Israel, O Lord” (Jeremiah 17:1--just as a mikveh purifies the unclean, so too does he Holy One, blessed be He, purify Israel.

All commandments of the Torah, whether they be mandatory or prohibitive, if a man violates any one of them, either purposefully or accidentally, when he will repent himself and turn away from his sinful way, he is obliged to confess before God, blessed is He! even as it is said: "When a man or woman shall commit any sin..… Then they shall confess their sin which they have done (Num. 5.6–7), which is a confession of words. Such confession is a mandatory commandment. How is the verbal confession made? The sinner says thus: "I beseech Thee, O Great Name! I have sinned; I have been obstinate; I have committed profanity against Thee, particularly in doing thus and such. Now, behold! I have repented and am ashamed of my actions; forever will I not relapse into this thing again." This is the elementary form of confession; but whosoever elaborates in confessing and extends this subject is, indeed, praise-worthy. Likewise all those who bring sin-offerings or trespass-offerings, when they offer their sacrifices, whether for their errors or for their spitefulness, find no atonement in their sacrifices, unless they repent, and deliver themselves of a verbal confession, even as it is said: "He shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing" (Lev. 5.5) So, too, are the guilty upon whom the tribunal pronounced either a sentence of death or of stripes, who find no atonement either in their death or in being lashed unless they do repent and make verbal confession. Even he, who injures his friend or causes him damages in money matters, although he makes restitution of what he owes him, finds no atonement, unless he makes verbal confession and repents by obligating himself never to repeat this again, even as is said: "Any sin that man commits" (Num. 5.6).¹Sifra, Lev. 5; Yoma, 36b; Shebu’ot, 13a; Sanhedrin, 43a; Baba Kama, 92b.C.

What is complete repentance? He who once more had in it in his power to repeat a violation, but separated himself therefrom, and did not do it because of repentance, not out of fear or lack of strength... Even if he made no reparation save in his old age, at a time when it was already impossible for him to repeat his misdeeds, although it is not the best repentance, it still is of help to him and he is considered a penitent. Moreover, though he continued a life of sin but did repent on his dying day, and did die a penitent, all of his sins are forgiven, even as it is said...

What is repentance? The sinner shall cease sinning, and remove sin from his thoughts, and wholeheartedly conclude not to revert back to it... It is, moreover, essential that his confession shall be by spoken words of his lips, and all that which he concluded in his heart shall be formed in speech.

Twenty-four different transgressions withhold the acceptance of repentance, four of these are of great iniquity, and whosoever commits one of them, the Holy One, blessed is He! provides no means for him to repent, measured, of course, with the monstrosity of his sin. They are: (1) he who leads the public to sin, by which is also included one who witholds the public from performing a commandment; (2) he who diverts his neighbor from the good path to an evil one, for instance, a seducer and an enticer; (3) he who beholds his son cultivating bad habits and does not protest against it, for, his son being under his control, probably, by having protested, he could have separated him therefrom, as a consequence whereof it is as if he himself led him to sin; by which is also included the iniquity of every one who has a possibility to protest against others, whether individuals or many, and does not protest against them but leaves them to their stumbling; (4) he who says: "I will sin and repent"; by which is also included one who says: "I will sin and the Day of Atonement will atone".

Let not a man who did Teshuva imagine that he is removed at a distance from the degree of the righteous on account of the iniquities and sins which he had committed. It is not so, but the Creator considers him beloved and desirable, as if he had ever known of no sin. Moreover, his reward is great; for, after having partaken of the taste of sin, he separated himself therefrom and conquered his passion. The sages said: "The place whereon the penitent stand the wholly righteous could not stand;" as if saying: "their degree is above the degree of those who ever did not sin, because it is more difficult for them to subdue their passion than for the others.