The Twelve Steps
of Alcoholics Anonymous
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become
unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to
sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of G-d
as we understood him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to G-d, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact
nature of our wrongs.
6. We are entirely ready to have G-d remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove all these defects of character.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make
amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do
so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and, when we were wrong, to
promptly admit it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact
with G-d as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for
us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a a result of these steps, we
tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles
in all our affairs. |
Rabbenu Yonah of Gerona's
The Gates of Repentance
I. Regret for having
committed the sin. (1)
II. Forsake the sin. (10)
III. Experience sorrow over the
transgression. (1)
IV. Bodily suffer in relation to the sin.
V. Worry over the punishment for the
transgression. (1)
VI. Feel shame at having transgressed
before G-d. (1)
VII. Behave with humility (speak in a low
voice...) (7)
VIII. Have a humble attitude. (3)
IX. Break the physical desire to commit the
sin.
X. Compensation (in actions) to
prevent recurrence of sin. (9)
XI. Moral inventory. (4)
XII. Consider the punishment from G-d and
the consequences of sin. (1)
XIII. Minor transgressions as equivalent to major ones.
XIV. Confession. (5)
XV. Pray for forgiveness. (11)
XVI. Reparations (monetary, apology, request for
forgiveness, confession). (8,9)
XVIII. Keep your sin before you always. (10)
XIX. Fight off your evil inclination. Don't give in to
sin when the desire is strong. (11)
XX. Turn others away from transgression. (12) |
Maimonides
The Laws of Repentance
A. Confession before G-d which includes:
1. Naming the specific sin
2. Statement of regret at having sinned.
3. Expression of shame felt at having sinned.
4. Pledge not to repeat the same sin. (1,4)
B. Abandonment of sin.
C. Change of thought.
D. Change of name.
E. Contribution to charity. (11)
F. Supplication to G-d. (3)
G. Public confession (is praiseworthy). (5)
H. Acknowledgment of your sins on this and the following Yom Kippur.
(4,10,11)
I. Reparations (compensations) for sins against other people. (8,9)
J. Apology to victims of the sin. (8,9)
K. Self-restraint from repeating the sin when the opportunity to do so
presents itself. (10, 11)
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