Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 603 - Additional Stringencies to be Observed During the Ten Days of Teshuvah

SECTION 603 [Additional Stringencies to be Observed During the Ten Days of Teshuvah.] (1)

1 Even a person who throughout the year does not make a point of observing [the restriction against eating] bread baked by a non-Jewish baker (see Yoreh Deah, sec. 112[:2])1 should nevertheless observe this restriction during the Ten Days of Teshuvah.

If one cannot bake [his bread] personally, he should kasher2 the oven in which the non-Jews bake by throwing a sliver of wood into it, as stated in Yoreh Deah, sec. 112[:9].

Nevertheless, one who is traveling on a journey [may take certain leniencies]. If there is no bread that was baked by Jews within four mil3 from his present location and he wishes to eat, he may eat bread baked by a non-Jewish baker even during the Ten Days of Teshuvah, just as this is permitted during the remainder of the year, as stated in Yoreh Deah, loc. cit.

Every individual should scrutinize and examine his actions and repent for his [conduct] during the Ten Days of Teshuvah. [When one is] in doubt [as to whether or not he committed] a particular sin, more serious teshuvah is required than when he knows for certain that he sinned. [The rationale is that] when one is certain that he sinned, he regrets [his conduct] with all his heart. When, however, he is in doubt [as to whether he] sinned, he will soothe his heart and say, “Perhaps I did not sin.” Hence, he will not regret his sin thoroughly and may thus remain liable for its punishment. For this reason, the sacrifice brought as a conditional guilt-offering4 [to atone] for the possibility that one sinned had to be more costly than the sin-offering5 brought [to atone] for a sin that one knows he committed.