Does Yom Kippur Atone If You Haven’t Truly Let Go of the Sin?
Question
The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 1:3) rules like the Sages that Yom Kippur brings atonement only when there is teshuvah (repentance). Earlier, in 1:1 and in 2:2, he writes that part of the mitzvah of teshuvah is abandoning the sin and accepting for the future not to repeat it. And in 1:3 he adds that someone who confesses verbally but has not actually resolved to leave the sin is like one who immerses in a mikveh while still holding a sheretz (a source of impurity).It would therefore seem that the attonment of Yom Kippur is only when there are both the abandonment of the sin and a firm acceptance for the future.My question is whether this is indeed the case. And if it is, why was it not arranged that our prayer service and the text of the viduy (confession) should explicitly include an acceptance for the future? According to this, a person who only recites the printed text in the siddur has not actually accepted upon himself to leave the sin, and Yom Kippur would not atone for him. Why is this point not emphasized by the halachic authorities—that for Yom Kippur’s atonement one must accept for the future?
Answer
Shalom uVracha,
Since the halacha is that Yom Kippur is mechaper only “im ha’teshuvah,” it’s clear we need to look into Hilchos Teshuvah to understand what teshuvah really is. The Rambam lays it out plainly: teshuvah has three parts—charatah (regret), viduy (confession), and kabbolah al ha’asid (accepting for the future). Without those three, the kapparah of Yom Kippur cannot truly take effect.
As for your question—why this isn’t spelled out in the nusach ha’tefillah—there are several reasons brought:
(a) It’s already included when we daven, “V’sein b’libeinu la’azov derech resha.”
(b) It’s also in the words, “Yehi ratzon milfanecha… shelo echta od.”
(c) And really, Chazal didn’t set a fixed nusach because kabbalas ha’asid has to come from the heart of the baal teshuvah; a scripted text could end up being sheker (a lie) for someone who isn’t yet on that level.