The following comes from the Yoma 86a 4-6 in the Talmud:
שָׁאַל רַבִּי מַתְיָא בֶּן חָרָשׁ
אֶת רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה בְּרוֹמִי: שָׁמַעְתָּ אַרְבָּעָה חִלּוּקֵי
כַפָּרָה שֶׁהָיָה רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל דּוֹרֵשׁ? אָמַר: שְׁלֹשָׁה הֵן,
וּתְשׁוּבָה עִם כׇּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד.
Furthermore, with regard to
the topic of repentance, Rabbi Matya ben Ḥarash asked Rabbi Elazar ben
Azarya when Rabbi Elazar was in Rome: Have you heard the teaching
that there are four distinctions in the process of atonement that
Rabbi Yishmael would derive? He said to him: They are not four but three
distinctions, and repentance is necessary with each one.
עָבַר עַל עֲשֵׂה וְשָׁב — אֵינוֹ
זָז מִשָּׁם עַד שֶׁמּוֹחֲלִין לוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״שׁוּבוּ בָּנִים שׁוֹבָבִים״.
עָבַר עַל לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה וְעָשָׂה תְּשׁוּבָה — תְּשׁוּבָה תּוֹלָה, וְיוֹם
הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כִּי בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם
מִכֹּל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם״. עָבַר עַל כָּרֵיתוֹת וּמִיתוֹת בֵּית דִּין וְעָשָׂה
תְּשׁוּבָה — תְּשׁוּבָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים תּוֹלִין, וְיִסּוּרִין מְמָרְקִין.
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּפָקַדְתִּי בְשֵׁבֶט פִּשְׁעָם וּבִנְגָעִים עֲוֹנָם״.
These are the categories: If
one violates a positive mitzva and repents, he is forgiven even
before he moves from his place, i.e. immediately, as it is stated:
“Return, you backsliding children, I will heal your backsliding” (Jeremiah
3:22), implying that when one repents he is immediately forgiven. If one
violates a prohibition and repents, repentance suspends his punishment and
Yom Kippur atones for his sin, as it is stated: “For on this day shall
atonement be made for you, to purify you from all your sins”
(Leviticus 16:30). If one commits a transgression that warrants karet
or a sin punishable by death from the earthly court and then repents,
repentance and Yom Kippur suspend his punishment, and suffering absolves
and completes the atonement, as it is stated: “Then will I visit their
transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes” (Psalms
89:33).
אֲבָל מִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ חִילּוּל
הַשֵּׁם בְּיָדוֹ — אֵין לוֹ כֹּחַ בִּתְשׁוּבָה לִתְלוֹת וְלֹא בְּיוֹם
הַכִּפּוּרִים לְכַפֵּר וְלֹא בְּיִסּוּרִין לְמָרֵק, אֶלָּא כּוּלָּן תּוֹלִין,
וּמִיתָה מְמָרֶקֶת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְנִגְלָה בְאׇזְנָי ה׳ צְבָאוֹת אִם יְכוּפַּר
הֶעָוֹן הַזֶּה לָכֶם עַד תְּמוּתוּן״.
But in
the case of one who has caused desecration of God’s name, his
repentance has no power to suspend punishment, nor does Yom Kippur
have power to atone for his sin, nor does suffering alone have
power to absolve him. Rather, all these suspend punishment, and
death absolves him, as it is stated: “And the Lord of Hosts revealed
Himself to my ears: This iniquity shall not be atoned for until you die”
(Isaiah 22:14).
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