Question:
I feel very ashamed for all the Zera Levatala (wasted semen) from my earlier years.... including w/ my wife.... It was a very difficult addiction for many years...but B.H. (with G-d’s help) we made a strong commitment and we stopped this type of behavior.

My questions is how can I rectify what I did wrong from the past...... especially concerning all the millions of souls that were created and lost to the “Other Side.” Please... can you advice me what type of proven tikun our rabbis wrote in the holy texts.

Answer:
Your deep feelings of repentance, and your very praiseworthy achievement of correcting your ways, indicates that you have already done penitence which G-d has surely accepted. While this suffices for most types of transgressions, Kabbalists teach that the sin of spilling semen in vain has another element which needs rectification. As you mention in your question, the myriads of souls contained in the semen that was spilled in vain were lost to an impure spiritual dimension – the “Other Side” – and remain imprisoned there until they are redeemed. In Hasidic literature this is often spoken as “raising up the fallen sparks of holiness.” The tikun is not a onetime matter, but rather a lifelong endeavor, as King David said, “My sin is ever before me.”

 

Our Sages have revealed various “tikunim” and effective ways of releasing these souls from their spiritual captivity and returning them to the “bank of souls” in Heaven. This last week of the Shovavim period (through Parshat Mishpatim) is especially conducive for repairing the damage caused by spilling semen in vain. These tikunim include increasing Torah study, fasting, doing more mitzvot and good deeds, the generous giving of charity, and special prayers like the “Tikun HaKlali,” the recital of the Bedtime Shema with added concentration, and “Tikun Hatzot.” Explanations of these rectifications can be found in many of the articles posted on jewishsexuality.com, and studying them is a beneficial tikun.     

Regarding added Torah study, the Baale HaTanya writes: “Since the violation of the Covenant through wasteful emission, to say nothing of stark immorality and unions prohibited by the Torah and Sages (for the words of the Sages are more grave) causes a blemish in the mind (where the spiritual component of the zera originates),  therefore the rectification is to occupy oneself with Torah which derives from Wisdom” (Igeret HaT’shuva, Ch.9). The “Igeret HaT’shuva” posted on the site is worth reading in depth.
   
For people who find fasting difficult, here is some advice from the holy Kabbalist, the “Chida,” who writes:
“A person came to me who wanted to fast during the weeks of Shovavim, but was unable to because he was ill and aging, and sincerely sought a way to rectify his soul. I told him that in his situation of poor health and weakness, he could redeem the fast days with a meaningful amount of charity. And I told him to recite this prayer each day:

“Master of the World, I am very ashamed with terrible embarrassment and filled with self-chastisement over all of my transgressions and sins and wrongdoings, and especially in blemishing the sign of the holy Brit with evil fantasies, until I brought myself to further sin by falling, more than once, to the wiles of the evil inclination, which seeks to cut me off from You, Heaven forbid. Woe is me! Have mercy on me! In Your great compassion, You have opened the way to repentance and rectification of our souls through fasting [which rectifies the Holy Names which we blemished, by fasting 40 days during this period, paralleling the 4 letter Yuds in your Hidden Name of 72 letters, 4 times 10 – the numerical value of Yud, which equals 40]. It is known and revealed before You that I would like to fulfill this tikun-rectification with all of my heart, but, alas, I don’t have the strength and wherewithal to undergo 40 days of consecutive fasting.

“Therefore, I set aside today four coins for charity, as our Sages have taught us to redeem our fasts through money. May it be Your will, L-rd our G-d, and G-d of our forefathers, that it be considered as if I fasted today, and that this tzedakah (charity) be considered important, as if I fasted, and that the lessening of my monies be considered like a lessening of my body’s fats which I would have lost through fasting, just as a sacrifice’s fats are brought upon the Temple altar, and that You, in Your goodness, will rectify the Holy Names that I blemished through spilling semen in vain, or through an accidental emission, and release all of the sparks of holiness that were scattered among the impure husks (kelipot) in impure spiritual worlds, as it is written, חיל בלע ויקיאנו, whose initial letters are the Holy Name חב ו, from the verse, “He has swallowed down wealth, but will vomit them up again; G-d has cast them out of his belly” (Iyov, 20:15), referring to the forces of evil of the ‘Other Side’ (Sitra Achra) which capture the souls lost through our sins of spilling semen in vain, which You redeem through our heartfelt repentance. Please, Hashem, return all of the Holy Sparks to their rightful holy place, for the sake of Your mercy. Please do it for the sake of Your Holy Name; do it for the sake of Your Torah; do it for the sake of Your holiness. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing before You, L-rd, my rock and my redeemer.”

Hatzlachah!