There are commandments and sins that are between a person and his/her fellow, and there are those between a person and God. On Yom Kippur, God grants us forgiveness for our transgressions against him, and all we have to do is to simply ask for that absolution, to express regret for our bad deeds, "because even the holiest among us sin at times." And when we regret the bad things that we have done, we are assured that we will have God's forgiveness. But also on this day, each of us must ask for the forgiveness of those close to us, our family members, our co-workers -- forgiveness for speaking ill of others in conversation, for treating them poorly, for bad thoughts and actions -- because, unlike the commandments between man and God, sins between people are more serious. There is no forgiveness and no atonement until a person apologizes to his friend, and his friend agrees to forgive him for his actions. God requires us to work on having sound, friendly and appropriate social interactions, and once a year, He gives us the opportunity to admit that we made mistakes and to ask for forgiveness -- and that act of asking is significant in and of itself. It makes us put aside our social status and keep our pride in check in order to apologize and to connect with each other. We all owe those close to us an apology, whether to our husband or wife for not being attentive enough, to our children for not being involved enough in their day-to-day problems, or to our friends at work or school for our inappropriate behavior. We are all human, and as humans we make mistakes, but it is our responsibility to recognize these mistakes, and not just in reflection on the past, but with the goal of changing for the future. On Yom Kippur, we say in prayer, "Our Father, our King, inscribe us in the Book of Merits," and so we must ask the question: What right do we have to come out and ask God to inscribe us in the Book of Merits if we do not deserve those merits? Would we go to the manager of the bank and ask him to do us a favor and get rid of our debts, just like that, for no reason? It would never cross our minds, so how is it that we ask this of God- We ask for this during the very same days that we try to find favor in the eyes of our friends, we ask each other for forgiveness and we do things that we haven't done all year. These acts are our merits, even if in our eyes they are simply natural apologies between friends. Because, when a person does something kind for a friend, it is not only considered a good deed between a man and his fellow, but also a good deed between man and God, who has commanded us to act this way -- and so it is certainly fitting to pray, and ask God to inscribe us in the Book of Merits. It is now the day before Yom Kippur, and I too, despite my short time in this position -- only a little more than a year since I took office as chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Israel -- would like to ask for forgiveness from the nation. Forgiveness from each and every person who feels disconnected from tradition, from Judaism and from their roots. There are many reasons for this, and they may not be related to my actions, but it is up to me and to the other rabbis of Israel to make all God's creatures love Him, to cause Jewish people to love and connect to their Judaism. Because Judaism belongs to all of us. I will pray to God and ask him to give us all a good year and to inscribe the entire People of Israel in the Book of Life.
Yom Kippur: Forgiving friends
מערכת היום
מערכת "היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
