Question:
Hello Rabbi,
Over Yom Tov I was having a conversation with a family who were visiting from Flatbush and during the discussion someone mentioned that he heard from a certain Rabbi speaker that (during the process of teshuva) if you know (I’m assuming in that moment how you feel) that you are not going to perform a certain aveirah again you are 100 percent forgiven. Unfortunately, I did not really think so much about it and ask for understanding. I was wondering if you are familiar with this concept and how accurate it is and where it is brought down. Obviously when I think about this it really depends on which aveirah we are talking about because many times we will unexpectedly find ourselves in certain positions and different emotions/ feelings/ temptations will arrise to do certain things like poke fun at someone, take revenge (not necessarily in a heated interaction), use vulgar language when we feel wronged ETC.
Answer:
While it is not possible to comment without hearing what the person said and the context, in general, I agree with what you are saying. In order for a sin to be forgiven it needs more than just that the person decided right now thinks that they will not do this sin anymore. The Rambam, in Hilchos Teshuva 2-2 says that it is considered real teshuva if Hashem can testify that the person won’t go back to this sin anymore. When someone is in shul by neila, their yetzer hora is not really working, and the person isn’t in the heat of the temptation, therefore the fact that the person at that point decided not to sin anymore, is not a clear proof.
There might be other opinions, but not that I am aware of.
Best wishes
Sources:
רמב”ם הלכות תשובה פרק ב הלכה ב “ומה היא התשובה הוא שיעזוב החוטא חטאו ויסירו ממחשבתו ויגמור בלבו שלא יעשהו עוד שנאמר יעזוב רשע דרכו וגו’, וכן יתנחם על שעבר שנאמר כי אחרי שובי נחמתי, ויעיד עליו יודע תעלומות שלא ישוב לזה החטא לעולם שנאמר ולא נאמר עוד אלהינו למעשה ידינו וגו’.”
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