Question:
If a person sins against another person and is unable to ask for forgiveness
( even general forgiveness) for different reasons.
For example, the person doesn’t know all the people the sin affected or other reasons.
Does it help to have regret and stop the sin as a form of teshuva, give tzedakhah, confession to Hashem ect. without asking for forgiveness from the person or that won’t do anything toward because the teshuva wasn’t complete?
If a person is unable to ask another person for forgiveness will thoughts of teshuva help or is there no point in doing any teshuva because it won’t help anyway.
Answer:
Hello,
Partial teshuva is better than no teshuva at all. For every mitzva bein adom l’chaveiro, there is a double sin involved, one to Hashem, who commanded us not to do what was done, and a second sin to the person that was hurt. When the person regrets what was done, and says viduy, and works in improving himself that it shouldn’t happen again, then teshuva regarding the part regarding Hashem was done. It is still not complete because the person who was wronged was not yet appeased.
As a side point, the Vilna Gaon says that a person who wronged someone else, and can’t find the person, etc., should do whatever is in his ability to do to try to correct what was done, and when Hashem sees that the person tried the best they can, He will arrange it that the other half of the sin will get corrected also. Therefore, the person should do whatever humanly possible for them to do to get forgiveness, including davening, that the person should be mochel you. After that we hope that Hashem, in His unending kindness will arrange things so that the other person will be mochel.
Best wishes
