Teshuva — The Jewish Way of Self-Improvement That is Gaining Popularity

What do actress Mayim Bialik, singers Bob Dylan, Nissim Black, and Matisyahu, boxing champ Dmitry Salita, karate champion Reuven Sharf, the Queen of Kosher Jamie Geller, and the world’s most famous Talmudic scholar Adin Steinsaltz z”tl have in common?

All of them have transformed their lives, at one time or another, through teshuva, the ancient Jewish secret to self-improvement.

Over the course of the past decades, the Jewish community has been seeing a remarkable uptick in people self-identifying as “Orthodox.” According to recent Pew research data, “17% of U.S. Jews ages 18 to 29 say they are Orthodox, compared with 3% of Jews ages 65 and older.” Suggesting that there is an increasing interest in Jewish lifestyle that, as defined by the Pew researchers, is “steeped in traditional religious observance.”

However, the concept of teshuva is not exclusive to any one group. It is a process that one can undertake to transform and re-take control of their own actions and their life. Teshuva requires introspection as well as action to lead to positive change and can be done by anyone at any time.

According to Jewish tradition, by doing teshuva thoroughly and with love, that bad thing that you would like to fix can even end up being considered a good thing, retroactively.

There are four basic steps:

1. Identify a bad thing/habit/behavior and decide to abandon it
2. Experience remorse over the action that you did that embodies that bad thing
3. Confess (to the victim or to G-d or, if applicable, both)
4. Make a commitment for the future

It is possible to dig much deeper into these four steps to understand them better, however, even if they are applied in a simple fashion, they still have the power to bring a person from a bad place to a super good place.

Over the years, people who work on these steps find them quite powerful, and although teshuva doesn’t make you perfect overnight, the process in-and-of-itself helps the person who does this become more self-aware, malleable, and gain a healthy sense of control over their trajectory.

The amount of time and effort each person puts into their teshuva process amounts to a personal journey. And, one of the remarkable things that is often noted about teshuva is its potency. According to the ancient Midrash, G-d encourages teshuva with the inspirational words, “My children, open for me an opening the size of a needle, through teshuva, and I’ll open doorways for you that are large enough that wagons can enter through.” (Midrash on Song of Songs 5:2)

The simple process described above is potent. However, it is important to note that there are aspects of the process that might require clarification once begun. And it’s important to note that it is possible to succeed the first time trying it. But it is also possible to fail. However, failing teshuva isn’t failure at all because it’s a process and, in the sage words of the Simply Tzfat band, “the purpose is in the process.”