Abstract

The RaMBaM writes in a famous halakhah from Hilkhot Teshuva (2:2): What is repentance [teshuva ]? It consists in this, that the sinner abandon his sin, remove it from his thoughts, and resolve in his heart never to repeat it, as it is said, "let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts " (Isaiah 55:7); that he regret the past, as it is said, "Surely after that I turned I repented, after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh " (Jeremiah 31:19); that he calls Him who knows all secrets to witness that he will never return to this sin again, as it is said, "neither will we call anymore the work of our hands our god, for in you the fatherless find mercy " (Hosea 14:4). It is also necessary that he make oral confession and utter the resolutions which he made in his heart.1 I would like to draw attention to the role of God in the process of repentance. RaMBaM says that the penitent must "call×Him who knows all secrets to witness that he will never return to this sin again." To understand God's function here, we must consider at least two different parameters: the nature of the commitment undertaken by the penitent, and the significance of calling upon God as a witness.2..