Tonight is Kol Nidre, the beginning of Yom Kippur, so I won't be around tonight or tomorrow. To those who observe, have an easy fast.

According to the Rambam we know that someone has done teshuvah when he makes amends, asks for forgiveness, and doesn't do the same thing again when put in a similar situation later. This year I found myself saying to someone that I don't know if I'll do the same thing because habits are hard to break, but I will certainly try not to. I suspect this is a common case (though not necessarily articulated as such). I find myself wondering whether the Rambam means "yeah, it could take years to know", or if he means the narrower case of your intention at the time that you apologize and ask forgiveness.

The problem can be bad habits or obliviousness (the latter being, I suppose, a case of the former). So in that vein, if I have done harm to anyone reading this in the last year, there is a good chance I don't know, which makes it challenging to make amends. I would appreciate it if you would help me out by contacting me privately to let me know that we need to speak. (Fortunately, given the timing, the gates of repentance do not close at the end of Yom Kippur.)