once again in circumstances similar to the one he was in previously when he sinned, with the same ability to sin2, yet this time he refrains from sinning. An example of this is, a person who had sexual relations with a forbidden woman and repented. Later, they are secluded together again, in the same location, and his attraction to her and his physical vigor remain unchanged, yet this time he refrains from sinning. King Solomon wrote about such circumstances in (Ecclesiastes 12:1), "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before those days of sorrow come and those years arrive when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them."
If he does not repent until he is old, lacking the ability to do what he used to do, his repentance is not on a high level. Even if he transgressed his entire life, repenting only on his deathbed, all his sins are forgiven, as the previous verse continues, "Before the sun, the light, the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds come back after the rain," (Ecclesiastes 12:2), which refers to the day of death. The verse implies, that, if one remembers his Creator and repents before he dies, he is forgiven.
[2:2] What is repentance? repentance is when one who sinned now refrains from doing the sin, and he removes it from his thoughts and resolves never to commit it again. As it is written, "Let the wicked give up his ways." (Yeshayahu 55:7). He must also regret his past misdeeds, as it is written, "Now that I have turned back, I am filled with remorse." (Jerimiyah 31:18). His sincerity must be to the degree that our Creator, who knows man's innermost thoughts, can testify, that this person will never repeat this sin. As it is written, "Return to G-d, say before Him. . . never again will we call our handiwork our god." (Hoshea 14:4). He must verbalize his confession, clearly articulating his heart's resolve.
[2:3] Whoever merely verbalizes his confession without consciously deciding to give up his sins is like a person who immerses in a ritual pool mikvah in order to cleanse himself, but is holding a dead reptile3 (such as a turtle or a lizard) in his hand. His immersion is will not cleanse himself as long as the reptile remains in his hand. And so it is written, "He who confesses and turns away from his sins will find mercy." (Proverbs 28:13).
One must describe the sins he is repenting of, (the same way Moses repented for Israel for the sin of the golden calf) as it is written, "The people have committed a terrible sin by making a golden deity." (Exodus 32:31).
repent, God helps him to repent. If one did not sanctify God (chillul hashem), and he now sanctifies Him through convincing the public to repent, he may have his death sentence revoked.
2 If one did not sanctify God by choosing death instead of idol worship, he can reach this degree of repentance only if he is again put in to this position and he chooses to die rather than worship idols.
3 If a person merely regrets his past action by saying, I am sorry that I had to do it and I may be forced to do it again. Or if he says, I am sorry that I cheated this person because it is against the law. This is not considered regretting his sin, and cannot be compared to one who did an action and immersed in the mikva. If he says, I regret my sin because I went against a commandment of God, this is considered repenting the past sin. However, if his resolve is weak and he cannot build up enough courage to commit himself not to fall to temptation, this is considered that he did partial repentance, and it can be compared to one who immersed in a mikvah while holding a reptile, neither the mikvah nor the penitence has any effect because he did not complete the mitzvah.