Rabbi Sarah L. Wolf

September 26, 2008

Turning Away From Sin Together

            “You stand this day, all of you, before Adonai your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel , your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to waterdrawer—to enter into the covenant of Adonai your God.”  Now, I haven’t been to the Flint Center yet, but I imagine that the High Holidays feel a bit like this scene from Nitzavim, this week’s parashah.  The High Holidays are a time when the entire community comes together, not just the program team and staff, not just the board of directors or those who attend services every week, but the whole mixed multitude: adults young and old, families, couples, singles, synagogue members, nonmembers, visitors… everyone.  And although the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe, are days of introspection, we spend a considerable amount of time praying and reflecting together as a community.  We call God “Avinu Malkeinu,” our Father, our King, and we confess our sins collectively: “chatanu l’fanecha, we have sinned before You.”  These days are full of “nus”: the first person plural of the Hebrew in “avinu” and “chatanu” ring in our ears.  And as we greet old friends and wish each other a happy new year, we may also ask “Nu? How have you been?”

            The “nu-ness” is especially striking when we recite the Vidui Zuta or short confession of Yom Kippur.  Ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu “We have done wrong, we have been faithless, we have stolen…”  As we recite these words, we may find ourselves confessing sins that we ourselves have not committed.  Why, then, must we still take responsibility for them?  Rabbi Larry Hoffman explains that public confession is an opportunity for the community as a whole to stand together in common recognition that we are all imperfect, we have all sinned.  He writes, “Recognizing that fact, we may be quicker to forgive others…and committed all the more strongly to work with others to eradicate…human pain and suffering….  The very act of public contrition may be as necessary as its content.”  Through this act, we acknowledge not only that we have all sinned, but that our behavior affects others and the community as a whole.  We are, as the medieval scholar Maimonides says, to consider ourselves as equally balanced between guilt and innocence, and if we perform one sin, we tip the scales for ourselves and for the whole world to the side of guilt, bringing destruction down upon the world.  But, if we perform one good deed, we tip the scales to the side of merit and bring deliverance for ourselves and the world.  Our actions matter.

            Communal confession also leads to mutual accountability.  By admitting to the whole gamut of sins, even ones we have not personally committed, we are saying, “I am my brother’s keeper.  His sins are mine, and mine are his.”  If we all share the burden of the group’s transgressions, we will all be more invested in each other’s teshuvah, turning away from sin.  We begin by confessing together, and we finish, we hope, by helping each other overcome our failings.  Cheshbon hanefesh, taking an account of our souls, can be as painful as looking at our other kinds of accounts these days, but the task is made easier when we have the strength and support of the community around us.

            Traditionally, on Shabbat we recite Psalm 92, which begins “Tov l’hodot l’Adonai,” usually translated as “It is good to give thanks to Adonai.”  But it can also be translated as “It is good to confess to Adonai.”  According to a midrash, the person who composed this psalm was Adam.  The rabbis tell us that after Cain has killed Abel, after he has asked “Am I my brother’s keeper?” and has been confronted by God, he returns to his father Adam.  Adam asks, “What happened?” and Cain says, “I have repented and have been reconciled to God.”  Adam then smites his own face and cries, “How great is the power of repentance, and I did not know it!”  And then he composes Psalm 92 on the spot.  “Tov l’hodot l’Adonai.”  “It is good to confess to Adonai.”  On this Shabbat, as we prepare for the High Holidays, we give thanks to God for the opportunity to confess our transgressions as a community, so that we may turn anew toward God together.