Or are we innocent until proven guilty?
Tonight at sundown is the beginning of Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. Jews who follow the tradition will spend the whole day tomorrow in the Synagogues around the world praying and asking God for forgiveness while fasting for 25 hours. Webster Dictionary’s definition of Atonement is:Satisfaction given for wrong doing, injury.
On Yom Kippur during the prayer in the synagogues, believers hit their chest repeating the phrase–“I have sinned before you living and existing God.”
Apparently sin (according to the same dictionary) is: an offense against God, religion, or good morals. And what if the person claims that he/she does not believe in God, or does not belong to any organized religion?
Or what good morals are for one (suicide bombers, for instance) are not so good for others?
And is the Atonement day only for Jews, who live among so many other people, who have their own beliefs, and who do not necessarily follow the 10 commandments?
And then there is a question—Am I really a sinner?
During prayer on Yom Kippur, one asks for forgiveness for both the known and unknown sins one committed. There is a joke about the Jewish husband who did nothing wrong. Is he still guilty? And what happens after the Yom Kippur is over? Can we continue to live our habitual (sinful?) lives again until the next Yom Kippur? How do I feel about it?
As you can see, I ask a lot of questions to which I have no answers.
According to Jewish tradition, Man, at his core, is not a sinner. Sin actually means missing the mark, which can be corrected, or amended.
At the beginning of the story of creation in the Torah, there is a story about the first two children, Cain and Abel. This is a remarkable story, which shows how our way of being leads to the actions, which are considered “missing the mark”:
“After a period of time, Cain brought an offering to HASHEM of the fruit of the ground; and as for Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and from their choicest. HASHEM turned to Abel and to his offering, but to Cain and to his offering He did not turn. This annoyed Cain exceedingly and his countenance fell.
And HASHEM said to Cain, ‘Why are you annoyed and has your countenance fallen? Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin rests at the door. Its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it.”
Cain spoke with his brother Abel. And it happened when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”
—Genesis 4/3-16
In spite of the murderous act, God allowed Cain to live.
The process of atonement actually started 10 days ago. The days in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, are a time to start the process by asking for forgiveness from the people in our lives, before meeting the King—God and pleading with him for our lives, good health, and well-being.
We do not have to wait for a specific day of the year or to afflict ourselves with a lack of food to ask for forgiveness. I learned a simple daily practice, calledho’oponopono, that consists of repeating four phrases.
Using this opportunity, I want to say.
Please forgive me. I am sorry. Thank you. I love you.
P.S.
The images of religious Jews in different traditional garbs were taken in Israel on my last trip there in 2007.
Do not keep me as a secret.
SMILE AND PLEASE SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND