209. Rebuke

Rabbi Jack Abramowitz

Teshuvah 4:1

There are 24 things that can impede teshuvah: Four are sins so severe that God will not allow the one who commits them to repent, namely: (1) a person who causes the masses to sin, or who prevents them from fulfilling a positive commandment; (2) a person who leads another astray from the path of good to the path of evil, like one who proselytizes others for an idol; (3) a person who sees his child falling under bad influences who refrains from chastising him. Since his child is his under his authority, he has the ability to correct the child’s behavior. If he doesn’t, he is considered responsible. This actually includes anyone who has the ability to rebuke another but refrains from doing so; (4) one who says, “I will sin and later repent” or “I will sin and Yom Kippur will atone for it.”

Teshuvah 4:2

There are five things that bar the path of teshuvah: (1) A person who separates himself from the community. When such a person repents, he does not share in the community’s merit; (2) a person who contradicts the words of the Sages thanks to the disputes that he creates; (3) a person who mocks the mitzvos; (4) one who disgraces his teachers; causing them to reject him and cast him out as Elisha had to do to his disciple Gechazi. Such a person will not have someone to guide him to the proper path; (5) one who hates to be rebuked. Rebuke leads to teshuvah because when a person is informed about his sins he becomes ashamed of them and will repent.

Rebukes are found in the Torah, including: “you have been rebelling”(Deuteronomy 9:7), “you ungrateful, unwise nation” (Deuteronomy 2:6), “Woe, sinful nation” (Isaiah 1:4), et al. All the prophets rebuked Israel to make the nation repent. It is appropriate for every community to appoint an elder scholar who is known as a God-fearing person from his youth and loved by the community to rebuke the people and motivate them to do teshuvah. One who despises rebuke will not come to the hear this scholar’s words, causing him to continue in his evil ways, which he mistakenly thinks are good.