For the Sin We Have Sinned Against You...

On Yom Kippur at the congregation I serve,  we are going to let people ask for forgiveness of the sins they most deeply regret. I've asked members of the congregation to write their own version of the Al Cheit prayer. What we came up with appears below.

Yom Kippur is a day of seeking atonement. Included in the liturgy are public confessions in which the entire congregation declares its sins and asks for God's forgiveness. One of the best known of these confessional prayers is the Al Cheit ("For the Sin").

Traditionally, the Al Cheit prayer is a long poem that lists dozens of sins. Each sin is presented in the format: "For the sin we have sinned against You by..." Periodically throughout the poem, there is the recurring refrain, “For all of these, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!” 

This year, I asked members of the congregation at Selichot to compose their own verses that they would like to include in the Al Cheit on Yom Kippur morning. I also asked some of the young people in my Confirmation class and in the youth group. All the submissions were offered anonymously and I put them together into their final form.

Here is the prayer we composed together that we will recite on Yom Kippur this Saturday:

For the sin we have sinned against You by losing control of our minds and our mouths, and for the sin we have sinned against You with impatience, intolerance and speaking ill. 

For the sin we have sinned against You by ignoring people who need our help, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not giving people our full attention.

For the sin we have sinned against You by losing patience with our children, and for the sin we have sinned against You by losing patience with our parents.

For the sin we have sinned against You by not loving our sisters and brothers, and for the sin we have sinned against You by hitting our sisters and brothers.

For the sin we have sinned against You by controlling people and resisting change, and for the sin we have sinned against You by allowing things to get out of hand.

For the sin we have sinned against You by failing to accept the trials of people who are dear to us, and for the sin we have sinned against You by failing to cope with our own trials.

For the sin we have sinned against you by being thoughtless to a friend in need, and for the sin we have sinned against You by neglecting our own needs.

For the sin we have sinned against You by becoming angry with our spouses and partners, and for the sin we have sinned against You by neglecting our families for our work.

For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!

וְעַל כֻּלָּם אֱלוֹהַּ סְלִיחוֹת, סְלַח לָנוּ, מְחַל לָנוּ, כַּפֶּר לָנוּ

For the sin we have sinned against You by ignoring the joys and sorrows of people in our community, and for the sin we have sinned against You by failing to get to know the people in our community.

For the sin we have sinned against You by not staying closer to our families, and for the sin we have sinned against You by isolating ourselves from our friends.

For the sin we have sinned against You by cheating, and the sin we have sinned against You by allowing others to cheat. 

For the sin we have sinned against You by stealing, and for the sin we have sinned against You by using violence to solve problems.

For the sin we have sinned against You by deceiving one another, and for the sin we have sinned against You by looking at life negatively and harmfully.

For the sin we have sinned against You by judging our family members, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not honoring our parents.

For the sin we have sinned against You by talking about people behind their backs, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not speaking the truth to their face.

For the sin we have sinned against You by craving things that are harmful to us, and for the sin we have sinned against You by depriving ourselves of the sinless things that we want.

For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!

וְעַל כֻּלָּם אֱלוֹהַּ סְלִיחוֹת, סְלַח לָנוּ, מְחַל לָנוּ, כַּפֶּר לָנוּ

For the sin we have sinned against You by not honoring Your creation, and for the sin we have sinned against You by damaging the earth.

For the sin we have sinned against You by using hateful words, and for the sin we have sinned against You by judging others.

For the sin we have sinned against You by not being understanding of others, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not respecting their choices.

For the sin we have sinned against You by giving in to evil impulses, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not following our good impulses.

For the sin we have sinned against You by lying to people close to us, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not keeping our promises.

For the sin we have sinned against You by seeking popularity, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not putting our families first.

For the sin we have sinned against You by not contributing our best when it matters the most, and for the sin we have sinned against You by being distracted by things that matter the least.

For the sin we have sinned against You by being unkind to animals, and for the sin we have sinned against You by being unkind to ourselves.

For the sin we have sinned against You with secrecy, laziness and harsh judgment, and for the sin we have sinned against You with insincerity, impulsiveness and indifference.

For the sin we have sinned against You by not giving as much respect and time as we should, and for the sin we have sinned against You, O God, by not trusting You.

For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!

וְעַל כֻּלָּם אֱלוֹהַּ סְלִיחוֹת, סְלַח לָנוּ, מְחַל לָנוּ, כַּפֶּר לָנוּ