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As Yom Kippur draws near, repentance
and particularly confession come to mind for most of us. One of the reasons
that confession, such as the one uttered by the Kohen Gadol on behalf of all
Jews, is powerful enough to atone is because of the extreme
difficulty of recognizing painful incidents. At a very basic factual level,
when I lost a close friend as a teenager I continued to refer to him in the
present tense for the first few months after he passed away. How much harder is
it to recognize something that was in your power, and is therefore your own
fault? Because of this difficulty, there is tremendous power in voicing such a
confession (R’ Yosef Dov Soloveitchik).
Two recent incidents come to mind when I consider the power of confession. In the first, one ninth grader asked another for forgiveness, mentioning “you’re the only one who has not forgiven me yet.” Where else but a Jewish school would such systematic forgiveness be the norm?
The second, and more powerful, moment occurred when a student approached a teacher and very specifically apologized for his less-than-perfect behavior during class. He recognized his error and stated in no uncertain terms that this would not happen again. Given how difficult it is to take responsibility for one’s mistakes and given the relative youth of this student, this act seemed especially impressive and appropriate for this time of year
May you all be sealed in the Book of Life--
Paul Oberman
Two recent incidents come to mind when I consider the power of confession. In the first, one ninth grader asked another for forgiveness, mentioning “you’re the only one who has not forgiven me yet.” Where else but a Jewish school would such systematic forgiveness be the norm?
The second, and more powerful, moment occurred when a student approached a teacher and very specifically apologized for his less-than-perfect behavior during class. He recognized his error and stated in no uncertain terms that this would not happen again. Given how difficult it is to take responsibility for one’s mistakes and given the relative youth of this student, this act seemed especially impressive and appropriate for this time of year
May you all be sealed in the Book of Life--
Paul Oberman
