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How can the Rambam (רמב"ם) require a commitment to never sin again when we know we'll likely fail? The shiur develops a fundamental insight: teshuvah isn't about perfecting the future, but about severing ourselves from our past patterns. A ba'al teshuvah is someone whose future choices aren't driven by yesterday's addictions.
This shiur addresses a fundamental challenge in understanding teshuvah based on the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s laws. The Rambam states that proper teshuvah requires a commitment never to sin again, to the extent that God Himself can testify the person will never return to that sin. This seems impossible given human nature and our daily struggles with the yetzer hara. The shiur examines another puzzling halacha (הלכה) from the Rambam: a ba'al teshuvah is defined as someone who finds himself in the exact same circumstances as his original sin - same person, same place, same drive - and refrains. Why must it be the identical situation? Why not measure someone who resists an even greater temptation in different circumstances?
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Hilchos Teshuvah
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