Rav Yehuda Petaya and The Elderly Ba'al Teshuva

Story 1: Rav Yehuda Petaya and The Elderly Ba’al Teshuva

In the book "Minchat Yehuda" (number 86), we find the following account:

In the year 5683 (1923), I was approached by a certain older man who confessed to me that he had sinned with his daughter in law while she was married to his son. He told me that he wanted to make teshuva and atone for his sin. However, he did not possess the strength anymore to perform many fasts or to do other difficult sigufim (self-mortifications) for atonement.

I asked him if he would at very least be able to fast for one full day, similar to that of Yom Kippur? He said yes.

I told him to go and dip seven times in the mikva, and then to accept upon himself a 24 hour fast for the above mentioned sin.

I instructed him that on the day of the fast he was to come to me with a pidyon (redemption money) for the 325 fasts that were necessary to atone for the sin of being with a married woman, and that I would assist him with his tikkun, and so it was.

On the day of the fast he came to me and entered into my room. He took four steps barefoot (as a gesture of repentance) and stood in front of me and confessed his above mentioned sin. After his confession, he handed me the pidyon money and said, “Here is the pidyon money for the 325 fasts which I am required to do as atonement for my sin, please take it and distribute it as charity to whomever you wish.”

When I received the money from his hand, I said, “Behold, I am receiving this money from so and so who has given it as charity in order to redeem the remaining fasts which he is obligated to do as atonement for the sin which he sinned with his daughter in law, etc. For You hear the prayers of all mouths, blessed are You who hears prayers.

I then suspected that that this old man was very poor and actually borrowed this money from others, so I returned to him the whole amount as charity – keeping nothing but two small coins.

Two years later, this old man passed away, and I saw him in a dream standing before the Heavenly Court. He was received above as a Ba’al Teshuva, however, they found that he had only repented for the sin of being with a married woman, and was still lacking atonement for the sin of being with his daughter in law.

He was not spoken to, and he removed himself to a side room and lowered himself down to his knees. The Heavenly Court lifted their eyes upward, and three angels instantly descended from the heavens above and performed a surgery on his organ – removing from it the rust and blemish of the sin of being with his daughter in law. They then healed him completely and exited.

This is all what I saw in my dream. And from this account, one can see the great value and preciousness of teshuva, for it saved this old man of hundreds of years of kaf hakele, painful reincarnations and gehenom. Therefore our sages teach us, “Finer is one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world; then is the value of the entire World to Come.”

(Until here were the words of Rav Yehuda Petaya)