Reply To: Yom Kippur thoughts

besides for doing azivas hacheit (withdrawing from sin), and charata (regret) during the teshuva process, is vital, but do not think that you are done. Rather it is only the BEGINNING. When one does a sin for the first time, he feels disgusted with himself (or SHOULD feel disgusted) from doing the terrible avairah. Then after committing the sin several times, na’asis k’heter (it becomes “normal” to do). This is a natural phenomenon.

THEREFORE, whatever teshuva we do on Yom Kippur is really only the START of a LOOOOOOONG teshuva process, because you have to try to attain THAT ORIGINAL hergesh, sensitivity, and purity of mind, before you were to’eim taam cheit. That original repulsion you had, the feeling of “that sin is not for somebody with a holy neshama like myself”, or “I would NEVER tread THERE”, has to be reprogrammed into our brains and systems. THAT is indeed a long long process, which extends past Y”K into the year.

G’Mar Chasima Tova