Question: Is Viduy allowed to be said like this: “Hashem I’m sorry that I did xyz…” instead of “I did xyz… Hashem, I’m sorry!” Stating just the sin first and… Read more »
Category: Repentance
Repenting for taking interest on a loan
Question: Dear Rabbi. My husband some years ago (maybe 18 years ago) took ribit on a loan for around 3 years without a heter eska from another Jew. We were… Read more »
Can I mochel somebody if they borrowed money and didnt pay it back
Question: Can I mochel somebody if they borrowed money and didn’t pay it back? Ribit and debts are not good to have but what if you don’t remember if you… Read more »
Hug from Professor
Question: Hi, Thank you for helping. I have a professor (non jewish) that I was speaking with on the last day of class. Other students had left the room as… Read more »
Relationship with Hashem after Chilul Hashem
Question: I wrote things about Torah observance that are wrong and misleading and wrote about idolatrous practices as if they are equally valid. My writing went very far and can… Read more »
Lying to get a certain psak (seeking forgiveness)
Question: I lied to getba psak to eat normally on Yom Kippur. I feel ashamed. I asked the Rabbi for forgiveness. I put it out of my mind. Yom Kippur… Read more »
Isn’t it a chutzpah to ask Hashem for forgiveness?
Question: Isn’t it a chutzpah to ask Hashem for forgiveness? I understand the importance of Viduy and expressing remorse and commitment for the future, but isn’t it an outright chutzpah… Read more »
Atonement
Question: When we feel emotional pain over our sins does it count as the suffering that’s needed sometimes for atonement? Answer: Definitely. Part of the atonement for the sin that… Read more »
Does it help to ask a child mechilla
Question: I am a teacher for third grade boys. Over the year there were some times when I got upset and embarrassed a student in front of other children even… Read more »
Permanent damage to myself because of my sins
Question: If a person permanently damaged their own abilities, either trough drug use or failing to address a medical/mental health condition, and now they are permanently changed by their mistakes,… Read more »
Still sorry after teshuva
Question: If we believe that Hashem forgives us when we do teshuva, then what should we do when we still feel remorse after doing teshuva? Isn’t that expected? After all… Read more »
Doing teshuva gradually
Question: Is it okay to do teshuva gradually? It feels too scary and shameful to face some of the things I’ve done in the past. Is it okay to tell… Read more »
accidentally ate bugs
Question: Hi, I just ate mulberries off a tree without checking first to see if they had bugs. I know I should have. After eating a few, I looked closely… Read more »
Teshuva and accomplishments.
Question: Are there limits to teshuva? There are stories of people who lives sinful lives and did teshuva at the very end and Hashem accepted them, but did they really… Read more »
Teshuvah Repentance Important!
Question: Rabbi, I am vacationing in Thailand and it is songkran holiday. This afternoon, I attended a party where water splashing took place (water is splashed on people for good… Read more »
Sinning with intent to do teshuva
Question: What counts as sinning with intent to do teshuva? I used to do it a lot and usually it was because I was obsessed with teshuva and trying to… Read more »
Partial or full teshuva
Question: In today’s generation there a difference between partial and full teshuva? Is there a concept nowadays of feeling “bad enough?” If I try to improve but I don’t feel… Read more »
How does Hashem relate to remorseful sinners?
Question: How does Hashem relate to remorseful sinners who have not yet fully done teshuva but they want to and they are trying? What about someone who wants to do… Read more »
Clarifying question 46188
Question: I want to clarify the third part of the question. When I asked if Hashem forgives a person who doesn’t ask for forgiveness, I didn’t mean if the person… Read more »
Is there any time you shouldn’t ask for forgiveness?
Question: Is there ever a case where a person should not ask Hashem for forgiveness? Such as, if what they did was so terrible they know they will never deserve… Read more »
Asking forgiveness when caused embarrassment to a friend in public
Question: If a person caused embarrassment to his friend in-front of other people, not by saying hurtful words but for example by bringing up a topic which causes his friend… Read more »
Relationship with Hashem before kapara
Question: If a person did something that they can’t receive kapara for until they die (or in a less extreme example, until Yom Kippur), how should they approach Hashem in… Read more »
Teshuvah
Question: Rabbi, if I did something to hurt someone but contacting them to tell them I’m sorry would probobly upset them as well as members of my family, how does… Read more »
Asking mechila from a friend
Question: On several occasions, my friend breached my confidence by repeating our private conversations to other people and did not respect my privacy in other matters as well. I confronted… Read more »
Specifying a bit on transformation- from secular to a more observant Jew:
Question: If a person was once a secular jew, and then became a more Observant Jew in all the terms of the religious path, then are those clothing once worn… Read more »
Asking forgiveness from someone I embarrassed when I was a child
Question: I remember that when I was a child there was one time that we had an older girl giving a model lesson to my class in-front of her teachers,… Read more »
Asking forgiveness when embarrassed unintentionally
Question: If a person made someone else feel bad and embarrassed him unintentionally, is he obligated to ask him for forgiveness? Answer: If the embarrassment was caused to the person… Read more »
Mechilla not wholehearted
Question: If someone is mochel me and he “mostly” means it, but there still is some “kepeida” against me, does the mechilla work? I am not discussing a case where… Read more »
Looked at immodest video’s when pregnant
Question: I am very shamed to say that when I was pregnant with my son I looked at immodest images/videos. I want to do teshuvah, however I feel like there… Read more »
Forgiveness for repeated sins
Question: Does HASHEM forgive repeated sins or sins that have already been repented for? Answer: H-shem does forgive sins that the person did repeatedly, (unfortunately almost everyone as certain avreiros… Read more »
How to repair an Avera of a Ben Nida?
Question: Shalom, Baruch Hashem, I’m very soon approaching the 9th month of pregnancy. However, it should be noted that by the time we conceived, we weren’t keeping the laws of… Read more »
Can I receive forgiveness for stealing?
Question: I think I am done for. I borrowed earrings from a friend and lost them when I moved a couple of times. Also, I tried to prevent a coworker… Read more »
I fell
Question: I have been clean from wasting seed for over 5 months and today I fell. I don’t know how I can possibly do that to Hashem who gives me… Read more »
Abortion and Chillul Hashem
Question: I am a German Jew not raised in temple and did not know torah. I am now age 34 and being punished from God and still suffering in exile… Read more »
Rabbi not acknowledging part about Rambam
Question: I submitted this question last time. Embarrassing others in the past, gehennom, and what to do for teshuva Rabbi I emailed before never seems to acknowledge part about Rambam…. Read more »
Repentance after doing an abortion
Question: Dear Rabbi, I am writing you from Israel. Last May I was 6 months pregnant and the hospital called to tell me there was a problem. I was told… Read more »
Embarrassing others in the past, gehennom, and what to do for teshuva
Question: So a Rabbi wrote in a newspaper about embarrassing others would cause one to never leave Gehinnom. I got scared because I have done so in the past. I… Read more »
Is one accountable for sins done while they were under severe sleep deprivation?
Question: Dear Rabbi, Safety is an important favor of faith. Learning your limits of sleep need is a human consequence. If an averra occurs despite good middos during extremes of… Read more »
Mechila
Question: Is one required to seek forgiveness from a person they have hurt prior to being bar/bat mitzvah? Answer: A minor who transgressed or sinned should try to repent when he… Read more »
Tshuva for past Sexual Sins
Question: I have a question regarding a female baal teshuva doing repentance properly. If she did extensive teshuva to G-d regarding past sexual sins with boyfriends, is it necessary for her… Read more »
Mechila Through Text Message
Question: Is it valid to be mochel (to forgive) somebody by text message? Answer: As long as the message is conveyed clearly and it’s intent is understood, this would be a valid… Read more »
Giving Forgiveness
A relative on my husband’s side once said something hurtful to me about finding a shidduch for a relative on my side. I feel in my heart that I have… Read more »
Mechilah before Ten
IS THERE ANY POINT IN ASKING MECHILA BEFORE A MINYAN FROM ANYONE I MAY HAVE WRONGED WHO IS DECEASED OR THE NAMES ARE ME’ACEV? Answer: There is a custom of… Read more »
Teenage Dropouts as Minim
Per my previous question of what is a min and how do you become a min, I have a few questions. 1. As it says in Hilchos Avodas Kochavum 2:5… Read more »
Non-Practicing
Dear Rabbi: When a Jew has had to deal with a devastating blow within one’s life .. which shakes their Jewish Faith & Belief; and becomes a Non-practicing Jew, •… Read more »
Writing Down Sins
There are many Mekoros that suggest that one must write down their sins. Among them, Shabbat 12a, Yoma 80a, Tosfos Shevuos 26a, Rama (OC 334:26), etc. Why is it that,… Read more »
Atonement for Misah Bidey Shamayim
In shaarey teshuva one category of sin is punishible by mitah b’dey shamayim, bar minan, however in later chapters where teshuvah is broken up in categories, there are categories for… Read more »
Obligation of Forgiveness?
If someone asks for mechila is it a hiyuv to mochel him, or just a very strong etza? Also, is it permitted to forgive someone from punishment, but not be… Read more »
Teshuvah for Getting Angry
I oredered something over the phone. I got irrate because the person tried selling me something else after telling him 3 times that I’m not interested. The person is a… Read more »
Ending a Relationship
When is it permissable to end a relationship with a family member? What would be the circumstances under which this is permitted by the torah and commentaries? Answer: The question… Read more »