Sefer HaMiddot, Repentance, Part I/ספר המדות·תשובה·חלק ראשון

1Fasting is beneficial for all things.

2A person who is devoid of good deeds cannot get others to separate from their evil ways.

3Fasting is harder [on the body] than the sword.

4Repentance should ideally entail the very same thing [through which one sinned].

5When a person thinks to himself, “By doing this and that I will achieve such and such,” his thought will not materialize.

6Exile atones for everything.

7When a person is humble, it is as if he offered all the various sacrifices.

8Anyone who confesses his sins has a share in the World to Come.

9Whoever teaches Torah to the son of a fellow Jew, it is as if he created the child, created the words of Torah, and also created himself.

10Rabbi Papa fasted for having referred to a Torah scholar in a disrespectful manner.

11One should never even jokingly say, “I am going to commit such and such a sin,” because his words have the power to compel him to action.

12When a person cries at night, his voice is heard, and the stars and constellations cry with him.

13Punishment by flogging exempts those who would otherwise deserve death by excision.

14A person should consider his sins to be the cause of the world’s suffering.

15Each article of clothing made for the Tzaddik carries its own special power of atonement.

16Once a man takes a wife, his sins are contained.

17When a Jew sees or hears about the suffering of a gentile, he should think of repenting.

18Whoever lives in the Land of Israel resides without sin.

19It is best to make it easier for sinners to repent.

20Sin saps a person’s strength.

21Given the possibility of performing one of two mitzvot, choose the one that involves overcoming your evil inclination.

22A person who causes the Tzaddik suffering should fast.

23A person who feels heartache is close to shedding tears.

24When a person brings others back to God in repentance, he is rewarded with a place in the heavenly Academy and the Holy One annuls a harsh decree for his sake.

25Dismay does more [for achieving repentance] than fasting.

26A person who sins and feels remorse is forgiven for all his sins.

27A person who conducts his business affairs honestly is forgiven for all his sins.

28A person’s original intentions help him carry out and conclude his actions in holiness. But if his original thoughts lacked holiness, he will encounter mishap after mishap to the very end.

29The table upon which guests are served atones for sins.

30Increased prominence atones for sins.

31There are times when a person who has begun to repent encounters suffering. This is because he had previously delayed returning to God.

32When one sighs, he becomes a new person.

33The love that people have for the Tzaddikim enables the Tzaddikim bring the masses back to God in repentance.

34In the merit of a person who brings the masses to repent, fear and controversy disappear from the world.

35By helping orphans, a person breaks the power of the nations. And by breaking them, wicked Jews return to God in repentance.

36A person who brings others to repent is saved from imprisonment.

37He is also honored by God

38and achieves fame among the nations.

39When a person perpetually brings others to repent, the disturbing thoughts of the generation’s leaders are eliminated in his merit.

40One who brings wicked people back to God in repentance merits observing Shabbat.

41He will also not be harmed by a snake.

42By teaching the proper path to a wicked person’s son, you will have the power to nullify harsh decrees.

43Falsehood strengthens the hand of the wicked.

44Whoever repents wholeheartedly, the Holy One gives him a heart through which to know Him.

45Hearing the shofar blown by a devout individual breaks the evil inclination and awakens repentance throughout the world.

46A person who wants to repent should avoid being in debt.

47One who loves the Tzaddikim is capable of bringing people back to God in repentance.

48When a person confesses his sins, God loves him benevolently and removes His anger from him.

49The nations bring us to repent.

50Studying Torah atones for one’s sins.

51A person on a high spiritual level can attain perfection with but a minimum of effort.

52Whenever you are beset by suffering, scrutinize your actions.

53When a person wants to perform a good deed but encounters obstacles, God rewards him as if he had succeeded. However, when a person doesn’t do even what he is capable of, he is punished for it.

54By bringing merit to the masses a person becomes God’s partner in Creation.

55A mitzvah, no matter how great, which a person does and thereby brings merit only to himself cannot compare to even a minor mitzvah through which he brings merit to the masses.

56[Insufficient] income, enemies, sickness and great wealth are obstacles that deter a person from attaining perfection and his ultimate purpose.

57When you are the cause of some damage, it is a sign that your evil inclination has control over you.

58One who lures a fellow Jew from the proper path will be punished by fire.

59A segulah for anyone who cannot bring himself to cry is to sit at the spot where the flow of two rivers meet and become one.

60One who brings people back to God in repentance merits wisdom.

61A person’s laziness leads him to believe that the path of repentance is hidden from him.

62By disclosing his secret, it becomes difficult to carry it out.

63When a person is embarrassed by his sins, God deals charitably with him.

64When fasting is not accompanied by daat, it is not considered fasting.

65From the moment a person considers repenting, his prayers are accepted, even if he hasn’t yet returned to God.

66When you want to repent, ask the Tzaddik to bring you before God.

67Sins are atoned through lovingkindness and truth.

68Asking God for His love causes Him to cover over your transgressions.

69A person who confesses his sins is spared from having to sell what he inherited from his ancestors.

70When rebuking others for not rectifying the sins committed in their youth, include yourself among them and your words will be accepted.

71The best way to rectify the spiritual damage caused by one’s sins is through humility.

72A person must give himself rebuke each morning.

73Each day a person serves God during his youth is more valuable than many years of such devotion when he is old.

74During a person’s lifetime it is impossible for him to know if his repentance has been accepted.

75We often see that a person is beset by suffering when he begins serving God. The reason for this is that his initial motivation stemmed from his fear of justice.

76When a person begins serving God, the Holy One says to him: “I know that your desire and will is to serve Me, but what assurances do I have that tomorrow you won’t leave Me? If so, how can I draw you closer by virtue of your will alone? And how can I immediately reveal hidden things to you? Rather, you must do as follows: Start by showing your love for Me in the present situation, and perform My mitzvot even though you do not comprehend them. And serve Me with simplicity, without sophistication. After you’ve done this for some time, I will then believe you and reveal to you the reason and wisdom behind each and every thing. I will also draw you closer in all kinds of ways. For the extended time you served Me previously will guarantee that you won’t leave Me.”

77The way a person can tell that he truly wants to serve God is that he has no desire for recognition.

78Whoever doesn’t know the way of God should humble himself.

79By crying out your prayers God will forgive you.

80Falsehood prevents a person from improving his ways.

81A person who cannot eliminate his evil inclination by “dragging it to the house of study” (see Sukkah 52b) should know that he hasn’t abandoned his evil ways.

82God prefers those mitzvot that are also pleasing to people over those that are exclusively between man and his Maker.

83It is better to perform a mitzvah to whatever degree possible than to not do it at all.

84Caring for the body precedes rectifying the soul.

85One who cries over and mourns the passing of a devout individual has all his sins forgiven.

86It is a mitzvah to warn people about any transgression. Should you fear that they will not listen to you, tell it to them in the name of a Tzaddik so that they will take heed.

87When anyone attentively recites the verses of Va’yechulu (Genesis 2:1-3) and prays with concentration, the ministering angels ask God to pardon his sins.

88When a person responds “Amen, may His name be great!” with all his might, even if he has in him a bit of idolatry, he will be forgiven.

89The following are spared the suffering of hell: the extremely poor, those who suffer intestinal disease, and those oppressed by creditors or the government.

90Perform even more mitzvot than you are capable of.

91A monetary loss exonerates a person from physical punishment.

92Thirst rectifies the sin of idle chatter.

93Repentance brings healing to the world.

94When a person’s repentance is motivated by a fear of God, his intentional sins are reckoned as errors. But when he is motivated by a love for God, they are transformed into merit.

95Repentance hastens the Final Redemption and lengthens a person’s days and years.

96When an individual repents, he is forgiven and so is the whole world.

97God is appeased by a person’s confession of his sins, which is like his having built an altar and brought a sacrifice.

98Whoever overlooks personal affronts has all his transgressions overlooked.

99Torah and acts of kindness atone for a person’s sins.

100Screams and cries for God’s mercy are most effective at night.

101A baal teshuvah should pray for rain and all his transgressions will be pardoned.

102Jews who fast are not answered by God unless there are some wicked people among them.

103The path that a person should choose is to love reproof and be steadfast in faith.