Editing Repentance in Judaism (section)

==Effects==
The Talmud debates the spiritual level of a person who has repented (a ''baal teshuvah''). According to one opinion, this level is lower than that of a "fully [[tzadik|righteous]]" person who has never sinned. According to another opinion, though, it is even higher than that of a fully righteous person.<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.34b.21 Berakhot'' 34b]</ref>

The Talmud makes two statements about the power of repentance to transform one's past sins: If one repents out of fear, the intentional sins are turned into unintentional sins. But if one repents out of love, the intentional sins actually become merits.<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Yoma.86b.3 Yoma 86b]</ref> The first statement can be easily understood, in that if one committed the sin unaware of its consequences (e.g. punishment), and subsequently becomes aware, the sin was committed in a state of incomplete knowledge. The second statement is harder to understand, and different interpretations have been suggested. According to [[Joseph Dov Soloveitchik]], the meaning is that a person who repents out of love embarks on a journey of self-transformation, in which they use the pain of their failure as a spur to self-improvement. Thus, the magnitude of the original sin is eventually reflected in the magnitude of the good traits which the penitent develops in response.<ref>[https://asif.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/mimaayan-8-206-222.pdf גדולה תשובה - זדונות כזכויות]</ref>