For this mitzvah that I am commanding you today…(Devarim 30:11)

The Rambam has a very long section on hilchos teshuva in his magnum opus Mishneh Torah. Yet the Shulchan Aruch omits hilchos teshuva completely! Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky asks, why is it that such an important mitzvah was not included in the Shulchan Aruch?

I would like to start my answer with a fascinating gemora about the story of Reb Elazar ben Durdaya. The gemora relates that this man sinned to the nth degree. Yet at a certain point, when he realized the magnitude of what he had done, he had great remorse and cried himself to death. At that point a heavenly voice “ordained” him as “Rabbi” Elazar ben Dudaya (meaning that he reached the level of a Tanna!), and the gemora seems to relate that his teshuva was accepted. This seems difficult to understand because Reb Elazar did not say vidui! According to many poskim, including the Rambam, a complete teshuva must include the recitation of vidui. So how was Reb Elazar’s teshuva accepted?

The gemora also says that a person who gives tzedakah in order that his son should recuperate is considered a “Tzadik gamor”. Similarly, the gemora says that a man who married a woman on condition that he is a “Tzadik gamor” is possibly a viable kiddushin, because maybe he thought about doing teshuva. But how can these acts be sufficient for complete teshuva? We know that both of these men sinned yesterday and today they did not go through all the steps of teshuva! (For if either went through all the steps, there would be no chidush in the gemora). How can these two men be righteous if they did not do teshuva properly?

Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky seems to say that while it is true that there are a set of halachos in the Rambam for doing teshuva, one does not always need to take that exact path in order to achieve repentance. There are possibly different paths for different people and different sins. Therefore, Rav Yaakov says that the halachos in Shulchan Aruch are those which are finite and unchanging; applicable equally to everyone in all situations (which is not the case with teshuva, which is why it is omitted).

As an example of this idea, Rav Aharon Kotler says that through learning Torah one can achieve repentance for a sin which he did, though there seems to be no connection between learning Torah and the sin itself.

We see this idea in other aspects of Torah, where there may be unique variations for each person to perform those acts. For instance, the amount of chesed that one is obligated to do may differ from person to person. Similarly, the gemora says that a Talmid chacham has an obligation to have a small amount of arrogance, whereas this is forbidden for a regular person. We see that there are aspects of following the Torah which are tailor-made for each individual.

I had the merit to sit by Rav Moshe Halberstam (1932 –2006), the well-known posek and descendant of the Divrei Chaim (Chaim Halberstam of Sanz, 1793–1876). People often came in to him to find out what regimen of teshuva they should pursue for a sin which they committed. His answer was always personalized for that person. For some it was giving a particular amount of tzedakah; for others it was reciting Tehillim; and for others there was a mix of learning, fasting, and perhaps other activities. It seems to me that the reason for this is because the purpose of teshuva is to get the person back to where he is supposed to be in his relationship with Hashem. In normal situations, all those halachas listed by the Rambam are in place. But in certain situations, we can perhaps find an alternative route.

If we take a step back and digest what we have just said, I believe that checks and balances are in place. Each person who sins, heaven forbid, has a different level of defiance, and therefore he has a different level of teshuva which must be done. There is the classic way to take care of the situation which is found in the Rambam. I believe that the Rambam is telling us that this is the guaranteed way. We therefore strive to follow the steps of the Rambam. But this does not negate the fact that there are other ways to do full teshuva. In fact, the Rambam himself writes (Teshuva 2:1) that if one is in the same exact situation as when he sinned and doesn’t sin again, he is a full Baal Teshuva, despite his not fulfilling all of the Rambam’s steps!

As the days of teshuva are upon us, I think we should all take into account that Hashem has personal demands from each of us. We need to ponder how much “classical” teshuva must be done, and how much “personal” teshuva must be done before the day of reckoning.

May we merit to reckon correctly.