Repentance in Judaism

Repentance (Hebrew: תשובה, romanized: tǝšūvā "return") is one element of atoning for sin in Judaism. Judaism recognizes that everybody sins on occasion, but that people can stop or minimize those occasions in the future by repenting for past transgressions. Thus, the primary purpose of repentance in Judaism is ethical self-transformation.

In Jewish thought, teshuva refers both to a religious - ethical process and to a theological principle. While often translated as “repentance,” teshuva emphasizes a return to proper moral and spiritual alignment rather than remorse alone. Classical Jewish sources distinguish teshuva from related concepts. Teshuva denotes the internal process of moral change, including regret for wrongdoing and commitment to altered behavior. Kapparah (“atonement”) refers to the removal of the consequences of sin, which in biblical times was associated with sacrificial rites and, in later tradition, with Yom Kippur. Selicha (“forgiveness”) describes divine pardon, while mehilah refers to forgiveness granted by a person who has been wronged. According to rabbinic teaching, sins committed against another person require mehilah in addition to repentance and divine forgiveness. Within rabbinic Judaism, teshuva is understood as an ongoing and universally accessible process. It applies not only to specific transgressions but also to broader patterns of behavior and character development, forming a central component of Jewish ethical life.

Maimonides defines the essence of repentance as follows:

"The sinner must leave his sin, and remove it from his thoughts, and decide in his heart not to do it again... and he must regret the past... and [God] must know that he will never return to this sin... and he must confess with his lips, and say those matters which he decided in his heart."

A Jewish penitent is traditionally known as a baal teshuva.