VIDUY: Why should I confess my sins in plural?

17th of Elul, 5770

As I’ve mentioned before, there are different texts of the Viduy (confession). In all versions, however, the transgressions are mentioned in alphabetical order. There is an additional element all texts of Viduy share: we confess our sins in plural. We do not say: ashamti (I am guilty) bagadti (I’ve betrayed You) but ashamnu, bagadnu (we are guilty, we have betrayed You).

Why?

One of my teachers, rabbi Baruch Garzon from Madrid, Spain, sent me recently the following conversation he had with his son Abraham when he was 12 years old:

“Daddy, I cannot lie in the Tefila... I assure to you that I have not committed all the sins that we mention in the Vidduy. Some things I did, but the majority, I did not!.

- You are right, Abraham. Our Rabbis are not forcing to you to lie. No one is saying that you committed all those sins. The Vidduy is in plural because we also are responsible for the mistakes committed by other people, sometimes because we have given our collaboration knowingly, and other times because we have seen them and we did not say anything. In both cases, we are accomplices; we share a responsibility and we must confess our fault. Not to complain, at times when we must do it for the sake of HaShem, is also a serious offense”.

Shabbat Shalom!

SELICHOT ON LINE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CayIX_PTBpo&feature=related

VIDUY: Specific and personalized.

16th day of Elul, 5770

There is a discussion among the rabbis regarding the performance of the Mitzva of Viduy, confession of our sins. Should we be specific and detail our transgressions when we confess or is it enough just to mention generally: ”I've sinned, I made mistakes, I've rebelled against You”?.

Maimonides asserts that we should specify our own sins. His evidence is that when Moshe Rabbenu addressed God to ask forgiveness for the sin of the 'golden calf' he said: “This people committed a great sin, they made for themselves a god of gold' (Shemot 32, 31). Moshe specified the nature of their 'great sin'.

Following Maimonides' opinion, our Rabbis elaborated different versions of the Viduy, enumerating the possible transgression we might have committed. As we whisper each category of transgressions, we should focus and introspect in each specific area, and reflect if indeed we might have committed a sin in that area, admitting it and determining not to repeat it again.

Moreover, many rabbis advice that, before Yom Kippur we should retire to ourselves for a while to honestly review our misdeeds and bad habits in our hearts. Then we should write our own personalized list of transgressions in a piece of paper or a post-it-note or and attach it t our personal Machazor (=prayer’s book) and when we say the Viduy go over our own personal list, admit, regret and determine to abandon our bad deeds.

Read: http://www.aish.com/h/hh/rh/48942456.html

VIDUY: Becoming aware of our misdeeds

15th of Elul, 5770

There is no fixed text for the Viduy (confession). There are several versions of it, some more or less detailed and comprehensive than others. What all the texts have in common is that the ‘sins’ are listed by alphabetical order. This has a practical reason: it is easier to remember. Which is important especially when saying the Viduy by heart, with our eyes closed and in a regretful mood.

Every day in Shacharit and Mincha we say the standard short Viduy, Ana haShem Elokenu… where for each letter of the alphabet we mention just one kind of sin we might have committed. In this brief Viduy the wording is deliberately non specific and very general: ashamnu: we have been guilty. bagadnu: we have betrayed (our covenant with You). gazalnu we have robbed, etc.

During the Selichot we have a second Viduy, a bit more elaborated.

In letter Gimel, for example, it adds: gainu, we have been arrogant.

Dalet: After mentioning that we have spoken gossip and slander (lashon hara) it also says: we have spoken one way with our mouth and felt differently in our heart.

There is a third Viduy, much more detailed. It is called ‘Viduy hagadol’, the large confession. Viduy haGadol was elaborated by Rabbenu Nissim Gaon and it enumerates hundreds of possible transgression we might have committed.

The Viduy helps us become aware of our trasngressions, especially those misdees we might have forgotten.

Today, in Jewish history: http://www.aish.com/dijh/46571237.html

VIDUY: Understanding the basics

14^th of Elul, 5770

Yesterday we explained that the process of Teshuva is done by the Mitzva of Viduy, confession of our transgressions.

Maimonides says:

‘How does one confess? He says: ‘I implore You, God, I’ve erred, I’ve sinned, I’ve rebelled before You, by doing this and that… Behold, I regret and I’m embarrassed of my deeds, and [I’ve resolved] never to repeat this again’.

Let’s analyze Maimonides’ words.

We can clearly see three different levels of transgressions, according to the sinner’s intention. Obviously, the more awareness when the transgression is committed, the more severe the sin is perceived.

I’ve erred (chatati). I have made a mistake in judgment. I did not have the full intention of transgressing Your Mitzvot, but I was not careful enough to prevent them (Negligence).

I’ve sinned (‘aviti) I knew I was doing something wrong, I did it consciously, but I wasn’t strong enough to control myself.

I’ve rebelled (pash’ati). A transgression done provocatively. I want to show or state –generally in front of others- that the Torah or the Chakhamim are wrong.

… this and that… should be understood as a blank space. We should enumerate in here the specific sins for which we wish to repent.

We will see BH tomorrow that there many texts of Viduy. The difference between the various versions is the extent of the blank space …by doing this and that…

WATCH THIS INSPIRING VIDEO: http://www.aish.com/v/ho/57973927.html

VIDUY: ‘Confessing our sins’ is the deepest admission.

13^th of Elul, 5770

The Mitzvah of Teshuba –repentance- takes place when we recite the Viduy. Viduy means ‘confession’, and it consists on the articulation and enumeration of our transgressions, after we have identified them and regretted.

Maimonides explains "When one does return from his sin, he must confess before God Almighty, Blessed is He, as it says: 'they shall confess their sin that they committed' (Bamidbar 5:7), this ‘Viduy’ is a positive commandment (Hilchot Teshuba 1:1)

Without Viduy the Mitzva of Teshuba cannot take place.

We do not disclose our sins in front of other people or a rabbi, but right in front of God Almighty, whispering to ourselves our transgressions.

The torah says that God Almighty knows “…the secrets of the universe, and the hidden-most mysteries of all the living creatures, nothing is hidden from You and nothing is concealed from Your eyes". Now, if God knows our sins better that we do, for what purpose must we enumerate them before Him?

Similar to psychoanalysis, where the patient begins his metal healing when he or she is able to articulate his trauma, we have reached the level of ‘admission of our sins’ only when we are able to articulate our transgressions with words, not with thoughts.

Viduy has to be anticipated by hakarat hachet -admission of our misdeeds- and followed by azibat hachet , our determination not to repeat the sin.

TESHUBA: Waking up Pinocchio’s cricket

Today is the 10^th of Elul, 5770

Our conscience is an integral part of the makeup of our Neshama (human soul). Like Pinocchio’s cricket, it warns us whenever we are about to do something wrong. Conscience, moral awareness, is the most effective mental mechanism preventing us from bad behavior. For instance: If we are about to say something negative about a colleague (lashon haRa) ideally, our conscience will scream at us and tell us to stop: ‘Don’t do it. This is very wrong!’ Then, we hopefully stop.

But, what if we don’t listen to our conscience and we still do it? How many times our conscience will keep warning us?

As a rule, our conscience would scream very loud the first time or two. However, each time we repeat doing the same thing, our conscience’s voice becomes weaker and lower. To the point that if we persist, it probably becomes mute. Our rabbis, and very specially Maimonides (Teshuba, 3,4) describe this state as ‘the lethargy of our conscience’.

The Torah’s cure? The Shofar.

The Shofar has (should have!) a shocking effect on us. The Shofar, ‘a loud voice’ represents/replaces our own ‘dormant conscience’.

In the words of Maimonides the Shofar yields:

‘Wake up you sleepy ones from your lethargy, and you who slumber, wake up! Inspect your deeds, repent and remember your Creator…Look at your souls. Improve your ways and deeds, and abandon your evil paths and bad thoughts’

Shabbat Shalom!

WATCH: ‘Always let your conscience be your guide’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOZzNOkcEgM&feature=related

TESHUBA: Being your own judge… and declaring yourself guilty

Today is the 9th of Elul, 5770

Taking responsibility for our mistakes -hakarat haChet- is the first, and probably the hardest step in the process of Teshuba. Naturally, we tend to justify our actions and act as our advocates rather than as our prosecutors.

Illustration: David haMelekh committed a terrible sin, taking Bat Sheba, a married woman. Natan the prophet had to admonish David, and help him realize that he had sinned. Natan presented David with a fictitious case: A rich man owned thousands of animals. His neighbor, very poor, only had one lamb. One day, the rich man received a guest. In order to not “waste” one of his own sheep, the rich man decided to steal and slaughter his neighbor’s sole lamb, which he dearly loved. Nathan presented the case to the King an—as he had expected—the King reacted angrily. David said: “That man, the rich guy, deserves to die!” Nathan haNabi turned to David and said: atta haish…. “You are that man!” Faced now with the facts, and in light of the sentence that he had himself issued acting as an impartial judge, David haMelekh repented ‘chattati laHashem…’ he said, ‘I have sinned to God’.

David was not permitted to build the Bet haMikdash because of this sin, but God accepted his Teshuba. Part of the credit goes to Nathan who opened the Kings eyes helping him to evaluate his actions objectively allowing him to repent sincerely.

TESHUBA: Admitting that we don’t know…

Today is the 8^th day of Elul, 5770

Hakarat haChet, acknowledging our mistakes, is the first step of the process of Teshuba (repentance and change).

One of the reasons admitting our mistakes becomes so challenging is because we usually act as our own judges… and we don't know any better!

Let me offer you a personal illustration:

I've been writing the Halakha of the Day for a few months. English is my third language. My English grammar skills are not that strong. While writing I make many mistakes, but I'm not aware of most of them. Once I wrote “If you're seating...” instead of "sitting”... Before I send the group email I always check the spelling. Nothing was wrong! I read it a second and a third time. Everything looked fine 'to me'… The truth is that I had no chance to correct myself because I didn’t know the difference between writing ‘seating’ and ‘sitting’! My ignorance –voluntary ignorance to certain extent- prevented any improvement in my actions!

So, what is the solution?

Improve your ‘knowledge’! Learning more English will help me to be more perceptive and will empower me to detect future mistakes.

The same is true with Judaism. I want to do Teshuba. I want to become a better Jew. Then, first: I’ve to learn more about Judaism. Otherwise it's a catch 22: I think I know and I don’t know any better, how am I supposed to improve myself?

Learning Torah is a prerequisite to detect our flaws and improve ourselves.

Hakarat haChet and the Jewish version of the ‘original’ sin.

Today is the 7^th day of Elul, 5770

The first step in the process of Teshuba, repentance, is hakarat haChet-- taking responsibility for our mistakes and misdeeds.

It is not an easy task. it has never been…

Everyone knows that God punished Adam and Eve and expulsed them from Paradise. But why?

If you put on a table all kind of candies, sweets, and cakes in front of child and in the middle of the table you put a tomato, a normal child is not going to eat or want the tomato... But what if you tell the child: ‘You can eat whatever you want except for the tomato’. It will be only a matter of time until the child disobeys and eats the tomato, since the “forbidden fruit” syndrome triggers curiosity and desire. According to Rabbi Yosef Albo, Adam and Eve’s sin was not that they ate the fruit. God knew they will succumb! He wanted to teach them to take responsibility and repent for their wrong actions!!

Adam’s real sin happened when God approached him and asked him: ‘What did you do?’ instead of admitting his fault, Adam ‘transferred’ the blame to Eve: haisha shenatata imadi… ‘the woman You put next to me, she offered me the fruit’. Then, God approached Eve and she said: ‘It wasn’t me! The serpent made me do it'.

‘Displacing blame’ is probably the main obstacle for repentance, or at least the oldest one.

TESHUBA: What’s in a word?

Today is the 6th day of Elul, 5770

The concept of Teshuba cannot be translated into English with a single word.

The literal meaning of the Hebrew word Teshuba is ‘return’, in the sense of returning to God Almighty. Whenever we break one of God’s commandments we are deviating from the path which gets us closer to God. Teshuba takes place when we stop, realize that we are going away from God and we make a ‘U turn’ back to Him.

In a more practical sense Teshuba means ‘repentance’, in the sense of looking back, acknowledge our fault and flaws, deeply regret and taking the steps to repair what could be repaired.

Teshuba also means ‘reconciliation’. Our Rabbis insist that once we reconcile with haShem our ‘bond’ with Him becomes stronger. Similar to what happens to a loving couple, if they fight and sincerely reconcile their relationship now might be stronger than what it was before they fought.

Teshuba is one of the 613 'commandments'. This implies that our Torah acknowledges that we can’t be saints and infallible but inevitably we will fail and sin.

Teshuba is a process that comprises 3 basic steps: 1. hakarat hachet, admitting that I have done something wrong. 2. vidui: confession, oral articulation of my sins. 3. azibat hachet: changing my behavior. Abandoning my wrong habits.

If I sinned against another human being, the process of Teshuba includes a fourth step: ‘reparation’.

SELICHOT: The 13 attributes of God's compassion

Today is the 3rd day of Elul, 5770

The core of the Selichot prayer is the Biblical text ‘Amonay, Amonay, E-l Rachum veChanun….”. These words are known as the 13 attributes of God’s compassion.

" 1. haShem, 2. haShem, our 3. God, you are 4. compassionate and 5. gracious, 6. slow to anger, and 7.abounding in kindness and 8.truth you 9.keep kindness for thousands [of generations], you 10.forgive iniquity, 11. transgression and 12. sin, 13. cleansing …".

Rabbi Yochanan explained that God Almighty showed Moshe Rabbenu that by saying these 13 principles they will be forgiven. Other rabbis added that in order to be forgiven God demands that we actually act according to these 13 principles, not just recite them!

Let me illustrate:

1: haShem, 2. haShem: the repetition of the name of God requires an explanation. Our rabbis taught from this repetition we learn a wonderful lesson about God complete forgiveness: when we truly repent for our misdeeds, God forgive us completely, and will never remind us again of that sin. He will behave with us after we repent (SECOND ‘haShem’), exactly as He behaved with us before we sinned (FIRST ‘haShem’). There is no resentment of leftovers but a complete forgiveness.

If we want to be forgiven by God, we need to act toward others as we want God to act toward us. When we forgive, we should delete and erased all bad feelings toward the repenting offender and act toward him as we did before the offense.

Shabbat Shalom!

For a brief analysis of the 13 attributes see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Attributes_of_Mercy

ATTENTION: The Great Neck Eruv will NOT be up this Shabbat, Aug. 13-14.

SELICHOT: Sephardic and Ashkenazi traditions

Today is the 2^nd day of Elul, 5770

As we mentioned yesterday, during the month of Elul until Yom Kippur the Sepharadic custom is to wake up earlier in the morning to recite the Selichot prayer.

Selichot is a special Tefila that is traditionally said before the morning prayer (Shacharit).Technically, Selichot could be said also during nighttime or even during the day. There is only one period of time which is not suitable for reciting Selichot –following a very ancient custom instructed by Chakhme haKabbalah z’l-: in between sunset and midnight (middat hadin). By the way, Halakhically speaking, midnight (chatzot) is not necessarily at 12.00 AM but it’s calculated 12 hours from midday (when the sun is exactly on the zenith). For example, today in NY midday is at 1.01 PM, therefore midnight will be at 1.01 AM.

The Ashkenazi Minhag is to start Selichot service Sunday before Rosh haShana. But if Rosh haShana falls on Monday or Tuesday (it can never fall Sunday) Selichot will begin two Sundays before Rosh haShana.

During the entire month of Elul the Ashkenazim and most Sepharadim have the custom to blow the Shofar. The Ashkenazim blow the Shofar at the end of Shacharit. Our custom is to blow the Shofar at the end of Selichot service, right before Shacharit . Many Sephardim (Moroccans, etc) blow the Shofar also while reciting the 13 attributes of mercy (vaya’abor… ).

ROSH CHODESH ELUL: The process of Teshuba

Today is the 1^st day of the month of Elul (Rosh Chodesh Elul), 5770

Rabbi Yehoshua en Korcha said that after receiving the 10 commandments Moshe Rabbenu stayed in Mount Sinai for 40 days. There, God taught him the Oral Law: the meaning and performance of all the 613 Miztvot. At the end of 40 days Moshe went down and encountered the people of Israel worshiping the golden calf. At the sight of such offense to God, Moshe broke the tablets containing the 10 commandments. It was the 17^th of Tamuz.

A few weeks later, in the beginning of the month of Elul, God told Moshe to ascend once again Mount Sinai where he stayed again for 40 days. What did Moshe do during those 40 days? He begged God Almighty to forgive Israel for their terrible sin. Moshe argued with God and advocated for the Jewish people, invoking the merit of their ancestors Abraham Ytzchak and Yaakob.

At the end of the forty days, God finally absolved the people of Israel. That day, the 10^th of Tishri, is Yom Kippur , the day of forgiveness.

In remembrance of those 40 days during which Moshe Rabbenu begged God to pardon Israel, we dedicate 40 days to ask God for our own forgiveness. This process of personal repentance –Teshuva- begins tomorrow and ends on Yom Kippur.

Tomorrow morning BH, we start saying Selichot, the prayers that inspire us to reflect on our lives and embark on the process of repentance.

THE PATH TO THE PALACE

Today is the 25^th of Tamuz, 5770

According to Maimonides the first specific step one needs to take when he or she searches the 'Palace' (see previous HOTD) is to focus the mind when reciting the Shema Israel (the whole text!) and the Amida (idem). The individual is instructed at those times, to empty his thoughts from everything extraneous. Maimonides asserts that before proceeding to the following steps one must train in this fashion for several years.

Rabbi Yehuda Halevy said in his book 'The Kuzari' that similar to our body, our soul needs to nurture itself 3 times a day. Tefila is the food for the soul. In this aspect, the only difference between our soul and our body is that, when denied of nutrition, our starving stomach would cry for food while our starving soul will just shrink and become weaker. The soul is not as loud as the body. Food for the body is a matter of basic instinctive survival. The soul, however, because of its 'divine nature' doesn't die as the body. From one side, this represents a great advantage because the soul might always be 'ignited' back. That 's what we call 'teshuba' or 'repentance' in the basic sense of regaining consciousness of the existence of our soul. From the other side, a soul might remain for a lifetime completely neglected and ignored and it wont cry for help....

VERY SCARY. JUDGE FOR YOURSELF! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8WfSMek-bQ