When a non-jew converts to Jusaism, must he still do teshuva from past sins, or does the "reborn" concept stretch far enough to consider him "sinless"?
Answer
From Rambam, Laws of Kings and their Wars, Chapter 10:
בן נוח שבירך את השם, או שעבד עבודה זרה, או שבא על אשת חברו, או שהרג חברו, ונתגייר--פטור. הרג בן ישראל, או שבא על אשת ישראל, ונתגייר--חייב; והורגין אותו על בן ישראל, וחונקין אותו על אשת ישראל שבעל--שהרי נשתנה דינו.
A non-Jew who commits a capital offense and then converts: if the capital offense did not affect a Jew (e.g. idol worship, cursing G-d's name), then the Jewish courts don't carry out any punishment against the new convert. But if a non-Jew murdered a Jew, or was involved with a Jewish married woman, then he is held accountable even after conversion.
Interesting. So apparently, as you've indicated, it's not entirely "clean-slate."
The Talmud has stories of people who'd done horrible things against the Jews rethinking their lives, running off, and converting. Apparently we accepted them for conversion; how they work out their previous lives and regrets is between them and G-d.
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