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).
