Q&A: Repentance
Repentance
Question
Does repentance apply only to someone who committed a transgression while knowing that the act was forbidden? If, for example, someone became non-religious and was convinced that there is no God, etc., and afterward became convinced that there is—does he need to repent for his sins?
Answer
If his judgment was not rash and this was, to the best of his knowledge, the truest conclusion, then he has nothing for which to repent.
Discussion on Answer
Why not? Seemingly he is an unwitting sinner, though there are arguments for mitigating his blameworthiness (there is a dispute among the Amoraim whether he is under duress, but in practice the halakhic ruling is that he is considered an unwitting sinner). The number of sin-offerings he must bring is smaller (one for each type of transgression), and that is because the number of periods of unawareness is smaller.
Then why is a child taken captive among the gentiles required to bring a sin-offering?