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Ask for a Finger - Get the Hand

"How does one repent for sins he knows he will repeat?"

Saturday, 10 December 2011

How does one repent for certain sins that he knows he will repeat is a question that is being always asked. And the answer is as follows. If a man smokes forty cigarettes every Shabbos, and he decides he's going to smoke only thirty nine, that's a fortunate man. That's called a Miktzas Teshuva. A little bit of Teshuva, which is the easiest thing to do, is the biggest obligation. To stop all forty, is not so easy for him, but to stop the fortieth, YES, he can. And therefore, if you can stop even a little bit of your sin, then you must do it, and it's the biggest obligation, that's the easiest thing to do.

And so any sinner, even though he's a confirmed Chotai, if he's able to make a resolve, at least one little bit of that sin he won't do anymore. Let's say he does a sin ten times a week, now he'll do it nine times a week; he makes up his mind "no more then nine times", he is a LUCKY man. If he neglects that opportunity, he's in great danger; Hashem is very angry at him. The tenth time was easy to avoid. And so everybody can do a Miktzas Teshuva.

That's why we say "Hashivainu Avinu Lesorasecho - Hashem bring us back to your Torah", that's Teshuva we are asking for, Teshuva, for repentance. Then we say, "V'Hachzirainu B'sehuva Shelaima", then we're asking for a perfect repentance. First we are asking for a little bit of repentance, any kind of repentance, a little bit at least. Then, once you ask for a finger, you ask for the whole hand too! Then we say, give us a full repentance.