Teshuvah (תְּשׁוּבָה — literally ‘return’ or ‘turning’) is the cornerstone of Rabbinic Jewish soteriology — the process by which a human being who has sinned returns to right relationship with God. The Rabbinic development of teshuvah is the direct theological response to the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD: without the sacrificial system, how is sin atoned? The answer: Yochanan ben Zakkai’s teaching, drawing on Hosea 6:6 (‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’), that acts of loving-kindness (gemilut hasadim) and genuine repentance replace the Temple cult. Maimonides’ Laws of Repentance (Hilchot Teshuvah) in the Mishneh Torah provides the definitive codification: teshuvah requires recognition of sin (hakarat ha-chet), remorse (charatah), verbal confession (vidui), and commitment not to repeat the sin (kabbalat ha-atid). Crucially, sins against another person cannot be atoned before God until the wronged person is reconciled — no sacrifice or prayer can substitute for repairing human relationships. This gives Rabbinic atonement theology a fundamentally interpersonal and ethical character distinct from both Temple sacrifice and Christian substitutionary atonement.