Thursday, September 16, 2010

Sins

It’s not easy to simplify the meaning of the holiest Jewish High Holy Day, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, but I shall try. G-d can’t forgive you for sins you commit against fellow man. You must clean that mess up yourself and ask those whom you hurt in any fashion for forgiveness. However, he can forgive you for sins you committed for not living according to the good book. To me, Yom Kippur is a day for fasting and praying and reflecting on how I can be a better person. Hubby and I attend services and there are two aspects of the day that “reach into my very being.” One is an inner belief that when the day is over, my fate is sealed for the future.

The other is a prayer which enumerates the vast amount of sins one may have committed and should atone for. Many of the sins are written in almost Biblical language. While it is recited, some Rabbis “bring the sin alive” or restate it in every day language. Usually this causes a stir of discomfort to some worshippers who up until then were simply reciting words without digesting their meaning. Each time I hear a Rabbi do this, I wonder if maybe the prayer should have an addendum, and I even thought that if even a similar prayer exists in other religions, they also might be interested in my updated addendum that might give potency to things like the sin of “baring false witness.”

I do not mean to be disrespectful, but Hubby and I just completed a ten-hour drive home from Atlanta and while looking at some drivers weave around the road this idea came to me.

We could ask for forgiveness for the following:

The sin of texting during the religious leader’s sermon.
The sin of texting while driving.
The sin of talking on the cell phone while driving.

The following ones popped into my head after listening to various politicians on the talk shows last night.

The sin of lying to the voters while you are running for political office.
The sin of lying to your constituents if you are an elected official.
The sin of lying about your opponent while you’re running for office.
The sin of distorting facts.

Anyone else have any other sins that everyone should be atoning for, regardless of what House of Worship you attend?

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