# Elul 15 - When Sins Become Mitzvahs: The Transforming Power of Teshuvah

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe-675642/elul-15-when-sins-become-mitzvahs-the-transforming-power-of-teshuvah
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe-675642/elul-15-when-sins-become-mitzvahs-the-transforming-power-of-teshuvah.md
Podcast: [Jewish Inspiration Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe](https://stenobird.com/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe-675642)
Published: 2026-08-28T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/0fc73f59
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/media.transistor.fm/0fc73f59/c60c33a5.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe-675642/episodes/elul-15-when-sins-become-mitzvahs-the-transforming-power-of-teshuvah
Duration seconds: 575

## Resource

Drawing on Tractate Yoma 86b , Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe explores several extraordinary teachings about the power of teshuvah. Repentance can reach the Divine Throne, bring redemption closer, and reopen a relationship that appears irreparably broken. The Torah prohibits a divorced woman who married another man from returning to her first husband, yet Hashem tells the Jewish people that despite their spiritual unfaithfulness, they may always return to Him. Hashem desires our closeness and never closes the door to sincere return. The Talmud then distinguishes between teshuvah motivated by fear and teshuvah motivated by love . When a person repents out of fear, deliberate transgressions are downgraded and treated like inadvertent mistakes. But when a person returns out of genuine love for Hashem, those same transgressions can be transformed into merits. The very failure that once created distance becomes the catalyst for a deeper and more devoted relationship. Rabbi Wolbe compares this process to a marriage. Disagreements can create painful tension, but when spouses accept responsibility, apologize sincerely, and work through the conflict, their relationship can emerge stronger than it was before. In the same way, sin strains our relationship with Hashem, but sincere teshuvah can elevate that relationship to an entirely new level. The fall itself is not the mitzvah; rather, the love, accountability, and renewed closeness produced through the return transform the meaning of the past. _____________ This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Peter & Becky Botvin This Episode is dedicated in Honor of David & Perl Leah Fishman Recorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on September 1, 2023, in Houston, Texas. Released as Podcast on Septe…

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