How Do You Do Teshuvah? | Behrman House Publishing

You are sitting with friends at lunch when Alex passes by, hoping for an invitation to join you. You say nothing and Alex sits alone at another table. The next day you *

Apologize to Alex and convince the “regulars” to invite Alex to sit at your table, and to make Alex feel comfortable.

Invite Alex to sit with you even though you don’t have a lot to talk about.

Feel uncomfortable and look aside when Alex passes by.

You have to supervise your younger brother for half an hour. He asks you to play his favorite game, but you want him to play alone while you watch TV. He is upset. You *

Feel bad, and choose a game to play together.

Realize that he is depending on you as a caretaker and sibling. When you baby-sit, you will be attentive to his needs.

Apologize, but explain that you need to relax.

Your friends make fun of a new student’s clothes. You laugh, but after thinking about this, you *

Tell your friends that you feel bad about the joking. Promise to get to know the new student better and remind your friends about how hurtful put-downs can be.

Change the subject because you know teasing is wrong.

Tell your friends: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.”

Your parents ask you to collect the trash. You promise to do it later, but forget. Later, while you are watching TV, your parents again ask you to collect the trash. You *

Admit that you forgot to do it and promise to do it after the TV program ends. You write a note to remind yourself.

Collect the trash immediately, so your parents don’t get mad.

Apologize for forgetting. Promise to collect the trash every night without your parents reminding you.

Your teacher insists that you work on a project with Ariel. You complain because Ariel is very sloppy. Ariel is upset. You *

Apologize. Split up the project so you don’t have to work together.

Apologize for hurting Ariel’s feelings, and suffer through the work you must do with Ariel.

Apologize to Ariel and explain why you complained. You try to find a better way to work together.

You argued with a close friend, and each of you said things you didn’t mean. You say *

“I am really sorry about the mean things I said, and I will try not to say things like that again. I am also hurt by what you said, and I hope you apologize.”

“I am sorry for the things I said, but you really got me angry, and I don’t know what I will do if you do that again.”

“I feel hurt by some things you said, but I feel embarrassed by what I said. Please forgive me. I hope we learn from this and become better friends.”

You spread gossip about Yona that was very hurtful. You tried to apologize, but Yona would not forgive you. *

You try again to apologize and promise Yona that you won’t spread gossip again.

You understand how much you hurt Yona and try to be extra sensitive. If someone else is spreading gossip, you try to convince that person to stop.

You are angry with Yona for holding a grudge even after you apologized.