The motifs of Repentance (Teshuva), Prayer (Tefila) and Charity (Tzedakah) are among the several recurring themes that weave through the customs and liturgy of the "Days of Awe."

• What is Teshuva
• About Teshuva
• How to do Teshuva
• Self Improvement Chart
• Your New Years Resolutions

It's one thing to talk about Teshuvah; it's another to achieve it. Maimonides offers practical steps to help us tip the scales.

There are three major steps in repentance, according to Maimonides:

| Recognition of Wrongdoing |
Recognition and confession of wrongdoing. This is the primary step.

It is not enough merely to recognize sin; it must be admitted, articulated. Note that it is confession of wrongdoing - not asking forgiveness - that is crucial, according to Maimonides. Once the basic act of confession is done, God forgives even without being asked formally to do so. Admission is perhaps the most difficult step in repentance, for there is an infinite human capacity for evil and self-justification.

Psychologically, the sinner feels that he or she has gone on a road from which one cannot turn back: because one cannot 'betray' what has already been done; because one will be shamed; because it is too far gone. However, God's promise is: "You (can and) shall return."

Once the admission is made, the rest is easier. The Talmud suggests that once the step of confession is taken by the sinner, there is divine help in the process of regeneration. "My children give me an opening of repentance no bigger than the eye of a needle, and I will widen it into openings through which wagons and carriages will pass" (Song of Songs Rabba, 5:2).

| Regret |
One should regret at having transgressed so that one rejects the miscreant deed.

| Commitment to Change |
A commitment not to repeat the wrongdoing. This is crucial to the integrity of the "turning." Repentance is not a momentary recoil or tiring but a basic turning to a new way of life and behavior.

Most commentators add a fourth step:

| Resisting Temptation |
The ability to overcome the urge to commit the same wrongdoing when faced with the identical situation.