Double jeopardy is the term used for being tried for the same crime twice. This is forbidden in legitimate courts throughout the world and it is also forbidden in our Heavenly courts too.
What do I mean?
If someone slips up and does a sin — or even does an intentional sin — there are two ways the sin can be handled.
- The person does nothing to correct the situation and the Heavenly Court judges the person according to strict justice.
- The person apologizes to G-d for the sin, essentially taking themselves to court. G-d, in His infinite mercy always rules leniently and forgives. That person cannot be retried by the Heavenly Court as that would be double jeopardy — which is forbidden.
Chazal tell us we should do teshuvah before we die. However, since we don’t know when we will die, they recommend doing teshuvah every day. The ideal time for this is before sleeping when the day’s events are still fresh in our minds.
Alternatively, one’s teshuvah can be included in their personal prayer whenever that happens to be. Or, it can be right after the sin is done — even if it happens many times a day. Why not?
Any and all efforts to be a better person — even if our teshuvah feels lacking — are very precious to G-d.
Yitzhak Sasson 