Sanhedrin, Chapter 6, Mishnah 2. The Mishnah continues to discuss the stoning procedure. The same tension we saw earlier in the beis din - the obligation to execute on one hand, and the striving to find every possible way to prevent it on the other - reappears here in a different form: The execution will definitely take place, yet we seek to make it, as much as possible, less terrible and more beneficial for the condemned.
The Mitzvah of Vidui:
Our Mishnah deals with the mitzvah of vidui. It is a general rule, as the Rambam lists it, that when a person does teshuvah, the mitzvah of vidui is incumbent upon him. Here, the focus is on the fact that the person is going to be executed in any case, and we want the execution to act as atonement and purification for him, so that he may merit a portion in the World to Come. For this, teshuvah in the heart is not enough; rather, the culmination of the teshuvah process is required, as the Rambam learns - vidui, the confession of the sin. Depending on his actions during the rest of his life, this is the condition for his death to complete his atonement and bring him into the World to Come.
Vidui, as the Rambam explains, is the reformulation of the internal and cognitive process that the person went through in his teshuvah: the regret is inside him, and he must express verbally with his mouth the fact that he acted improperly and that he regrets it.
This is how the Rambam opens the Laws of Teshuvah (and the context there is teshuvah in general, but the halachah is the same in every situation):
"Kol mitzvos shebatorah bein aseh bein lo sa'aseh" - whether positive mitzvos or negative mitzvos.
"Im avar adam al achas meihen bein bezadon bein bishgagah" - there is no practical difference whether he transgressed intentionally or unintentionally.
"Kesheya'aseh teshuvah veyashuv meicheto chayav lehisvados lifnei ha'Keil baruch Hu" - when he motivates himself toward internal change and retreats from the sin, the obligation of vidui falls upon him. This is not a confession before people, but before Hashem.
"Zeh vidui devarim... vidui zeh mitzvas aseh" - vidui with words coming out of the mouth, which in itself is a positive mitzvah, which the condemned man in our Mishnah also fulfills.
"Keitzad misvadin? Omer: Anna Hashem, chatasi avisi pashasi lefaneycha, ve'asisi kach vekach" - and this includes specifying the sin itself.
"Vaharei nichamti uvoshti bemah she'asisi, ule'olam eini chozer ledavar zeh" - regret for the past, shame in his actions, and acceptance for the future.
"Vezehu ikaro shel vidui" - this is the primary text, applying to all teshuvah, on Yom Kippur, and similarly in our Mishnah before the execution.
"Vechol hamarbeh lehisvados harei zeh meshubach" - anyone who adds in quantity or quality, and expounds at length on the extent of his regret, is to be praised.
The Location of Vidui - Ten Amos from the Place of Stoning:
The Mishnah states: "Harchek mibeis haskilah ke'eser amos" - when the one being led to execution arrives about ten amos from the place of stoning. He is approaching the end, but is not quite at the very end. As the end draws near, the condemned man understands that this is his last opportunity, and we want him to confess and achieve atonement; but we do not wait until the very last moment, because once he reaches the place of execution, he may panic and lack the peace of mind necessary for a proper vidui. Therefore, we aim for the penultimate moment: he understands that vidui is difficult and even embarrassing, but it is now or never - yet he is still not in such great distress facing his imminent death that he cannot concentrate and do what is required of him.
Until now, he has already had time to think about his actions, not only about the specific transgression for which he was judged, but about his entire life, since he knows that in a short while he will be executed. Therefore, "omrim lo: hisvadeh" - they say to him: Confess. This vidui is directed to Hashem and not to the beis din, and it is an external expression of the internal process of regret over the past that he has already undergone. As we will see, he does not only address this specific sin, but any sin he wishes to confess from his entire life, anything for which he needs atonement.
"Shekein derech hamumasin misvadin" - this is the proper procedure for anyone being executed. "Shekol hamisvadeh yesh lo chelek la'Olam Haba" - anyone who goes through the teshuvah process and completes it with vidui merits the World to Come and receives atonement. Indeed, vidui alone might not be enough, and even the entire teshuvah process, including its final stage, does not necessarily purify a person completely: sometimes he requires various types of suffering, depending on his actions, and even death itself. But after all these, if he did teshuvah - he has a portion in the World to Come.
The Precedent from the Story of Achan:
"Shekein matzinu b'Achan" - the Mishnah brings a precedent from the Book of Yehoshua. Achan unlawfully took from the spoils of Yericho, and as a result, the next battle, the war of Ai, failed, and thirty-six of Israel fell there. They did not know why Hashem allowed them to be killed, until it became known to Yehoshua through prophecy that a man of Israel had caused the chillul Hashem of taking the spoils. Yehoshua cast lots to identify the sinner, and Achan came up. Based on a hora'as sha'ah, a one-time ruling by Hashem for that specific time, Achan was sentenced to death for the chillul Hashem that he committed.
The Mishnah quotes from the dialogue that preceded his execution. Yehoshua said to him: "Beni, sim na kavod L'Hashem Elokei Yisrael v'sen lo todah" - honor Hashem as is fitting for Him. "Todah" here does not mean an expression of thanks, but rather comes from the word for admission and confession: confess before Him. That is to say, honor Hashem by properly confessing your sins.
Achan replies to Yehoshua and admits: indeed I have sinned to Hashem - by taking the spoils in Yericho - "v'chazos v'chazos asisi", and he confesses to additional deeds that he did as well. For he is seeking atonement for all of them. We see from here that he did not achieve atonement and confess for the final sin alone, but rather for all of his other sins.
And how do we know that the confession indeed helped Achan and granted him a share in the World to Come? From the verse that follows, in which Yehoshua says to him: "Meh achartanu, yacharcha Hashem bayom hazeh". He could have simply said, "Just as you brought disaster upon us, so too Hashem will bring disaster upon you"; what do the words "on this day" add? Rather, today you are suffering disaster, but you will not suffer disaster in the World to Come. Only now are you suffering disaster, whereas you will merit to enter the World to Come by virtue of your confession. This is the precedent teaching that confession is effective.
One who does not know what to confess:
The Mishnah continues: if that person does not know what to say. It stands to reason that this does not refer to the sin for which he is being judged, since he certainly knows what that is, but rather to many other things that he does not necessarily remember. In this case, they tell him what to say, and they instruct him to make a general confession: beyond what is known to him, he should state that he admits to the sins he has committed, and say "Tehei misasi kapparah al kol avonosai". Confessing in this manner is at the very least a general approach that grants him a measure of atonement. This concludes the first section of the Mishnah.
One who knows he is the victim of conspiring witnesses - the dispute between Rabbi Yehudah and the Sages:
The second section of the Mishnah deals with a new point: what is the law regarding someone who is being led to execution, but knows in his heart that he is innocent. For instance, if people conspired against him and the witnesses testified falsely, and he knows deep down that he did nothing wrong. Which confession must he recite?
"Rabbi Yehudah omer: im hayah yodea shehu mezumam" - if he knows that he has fallen victim to a conspiracy, he says: "Tehei misasi kapparah al kol avonosai chutz me'avon zeh". Meaning, my death will atone for all my sins, except for that specific sin for which I am being executed, since this was a false accusation and I do not need atonement for it, as I did not commit it.
The Sages disagree and say: "Im ken, yehu kol adam omerim kach kedei lenakot es atzman". Once such an opening is created, every person will say at the last moment that he is innocent, in order to clear his name and his reputation. This is human nature, and Chazal understood that it is natural for a person to insist on his innocence until the very end, even when he is guilty.
And there is a twofold damage in this matter:
Damage to the condemned person himself: If he does not confess his sin, he will not receive atonement and will not merit a share in the World to Come. Once the declaration of innocence by saying "except for this sin" becomes a routine occurrence, everyone will latch onto it, and this is an unwise decision.
Damage to the Beis Din and those involved in the judgment: If, right before his death, the condemned claims that there was fraud involved and that he is innocent, and the public believes him - it means they are not believing the witnesses. This casts a severe aspersion upon the witnesses, and also implies that the Beis Din did not thoroughly investigate the truth, which brings no benefit to anyone.
Therefore, the Sages ruled that we do not allow a person to make such statements, but rather we tell him: recite a general confession, "Tehei misasi kapparah al kol avonosai", and that is sufficient. This way, the improper practice of people declaring their innocence will not be created, and with this statement, with Hashem's help, his atonement will be secured. And if he is indeed innocent - all the more so; and if not - at the very least the statement will help him achieve atonement.
In summary: In this Mishnah, we learned about the mitzvah of confession recited ten amos before the place of stoning - early enough so that the condemned person will have peace of mind, and late enough so that he realizes it is his final hour. We discussed the words of the Rambam that confession is the culmination of repentance and a positive mitzvah in its own right, the precedent of Achan whose confession helped him merit the World to Come, the general formula of confession for someone who does not know what to say, and the dispute between Rabbi Yehudah and the Sages regarding one who knows he is being framed - that the halachah is that even he recites only a general confession.