July 30, 2026 / 16 Menachem Av, 5786 • Eikev
Issue 938
Dedicated in loving memory of Mrs. Miriam Friedman

For G-d, your G-d, is G-d over all divine beings and Lord
over lords. He is the great, mighty, and awesome G-d, who
will not be partial, nor will He accept a bribe. 

Deut. 10:17


G-d explicitly forbids us to accept bribes, so why would we think that He Himself would accept a bribe?

The reason is that repentance might look like a bribe. It seems counter-intuitive that the simple threefold process of confessing a sin to G-d, resolving not to repeat it, and asking G-d for forgiveness, should convince G-d to wipe our slate completely clean. After all, were someone to break the law of the state, it would be highly unusual for a judge to not only absolve the criminal of punishment but wipe his record clean of the crime on this basis. The fact that G-d does do this can make it appear as if He is accepting bribery. 

G-d, however, knows our inner heart, and therefore, from His perspective, if He sees that our repentance is pure and sincere, accepting it is not bribery at all.

—From Daily Wisdom