Texts of Judaism

The Duties of the Heart: What is Repentance?

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This is an excerpt from *The Duties of the Heart* by the medieval Jewish philosopher Rabbi Bachya ibn Paquda (translated 1909), a foundational work of Jewish ethical and spiritual literature in the introspective, pietistic tradition. The passage focuses specifically on the doctrine of repentance (*teshuvah*, literally "return"), defining it as the deliberate reorientation of a person back toward God's service after sin or neglect. Bachya distinguishes two modes of failing: sins of omission (neglecting commanded acts) versus sins of commission (doing what is prohibited), and prescribes different remedial approaches for each, illustrated by an analogy to restoring physical health through diet. The passage's most distinctive contribution is a three-tier taxonomy of repentance: the first, merely verbal without behavioral change; the second, sincere in intent but still marked by ongoing internal struggle between reason and passion; and the third, the highest form, in which the intellect fully prevails, the sinner lives in perpetual contrition and self-examination, and is considered worthy of salvation in God's eyes. The work is notable for its psychological precision—its careful attention to the internal states and gradations of sincerity that distinguish genuine transformation from its counterfeits.

The Duties of the Heart: What is Repentance?

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