Saturday will be the third consecutive Yom Kippur that Temple Beit HaYam will be praying the Al Cheit confession with words composed by members of the congregation.
Two years ago, I asked children and adults in our congregation to write down on index cards the way they would complete the prayer, "For the sin we have sinned against You by … forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement." The responses were anonymous. They also were deeply personal, heartbreaking and inspiring. I created a new version of the traditional Al Cheit prayer using their words, and I have done the same thing each year since. We use it only at one service, Yom Kippur morning.
I posted the first year's prayer here on this blog, and last year's prayer is here.
This year's prayer is similar, but different. Each year, I notice recurring themes. There are personal heartaches that are common among many people. You'll see them in the prayer below.
Let me wish you a meaningful and fulfilling Yom Kippur. May you be sealed for a good year.
Al Cheit Prayer 5774
For the sin we have sinned against You by being impatient with others, and for the sin we have sinned against You by being too hard on ourselves.
For the sin we have sinned against You by holding onto grievances, and for the sin we have sinned against You by failing to forgive.
For the sin we have sinned against You by dismissing other people’s problems, and for the sin we have sinned against You by exaggerating our own troubles.
For the sin we have sinned against You by speaking unkindly, and for the sin we have sinned against You by spreading gossip.
For the sin we have sinned against You by not treating others fairly, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not speaking when we see bullying.
For the sin we have sinned against You by thinking hateful thoughts, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not making peace where there is strife.
For the sin we have sinned against You by allowing resentments to fester, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not speaking our minds.
For the sin we have sinned against You by thinking only about ourselves, and for the sin we have sinned against You by ignoring others.
For the sin we have sinned against You by dismissing people who think differently, and for the sin we have sinned against You by being intolerant.
For the sin we have sinned against You by breaking promises, and for the sin we have sinned against You by lying.
For the sin we have sinned against You by telling secrets, and for the sin we have sinned against You by keeping secrets.
ועל כולם אלוה סליחות, סלח לנו מחל לנו כפר לנו
V’al kulam, Elo’ah s’lichot, s’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kaper lanu.
For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!
For the sin we have sinned against You by not stepping up to give our time, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not sharing our talents.
For the sin we have sinned against You by failing the ones we love, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not paying attention to our families.
For the sin we have sinned against You by losing our temper, and the sin we have sinned against You by fighting.
For the sin we have sinned against You by not giving our partners the respect they deserve, and for the sin we have sinned against You by taking them for granted.
For the sin we have sinned against You by yelling at our children, and for the sin we have sinned against You by talking back to our parents.
For the sin we have sinned against You by hurting our friends and family, and for the sin we have sinned against You by hurting ourselves.
For the sin we have sinned against You by not helping around the house, and for the sin we have sinned against You by letting others do our work for us.
ועל כולם אלוה סליחות, סלח לנו מחל לנו כפר לנו
V’al kulam, Elo’ah s’lichot, s’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kaper lanu.
For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!
For the sin we have sinned against You by excusing evil deeds and for the sin we have sinned against You by condemning unintentional acts.
For the sin we have sinned against You by taking things too seriously, and for the sin we have sinned against You by treating serious things too lightly.
For the sin we have sinned against You by indulging in self-pity, and for the sin we have sinned against You by becoming paralyzed with guilt.
For the sin we have sinned against You by confusing being busy with being helpful, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not giving ourselves a chance to rest.
For the sin we have sinned against You by accepting less than we should, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not believing that we can be better.
For the sin we have sinned against You by trying to hide our souls from You, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not opening our hearts to You.
For the sin we have sinned against You by walking through Your world of wonders with eyes that do not see, and for the sin we have sinned against You doubting the certainty of Your love.
ועל כולם אלוה סליחות, סלח לנו מחל לנו כפר לנו
V’al kulam, Elo’ah s’lichot, s’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kaper lanu.
For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!
Other Posts on This Topic:
For the Sin We Have Sinned Against You...
For the Sin We Have Sinned Against You (II)
Two years ago, I asked children and adults in our congregation to write down on index cards the way they would complete the prayer, "For the sin we have sinned against You by … forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement." The responses were anonymous. They also were deeply personal, heartbreaking and inspiring. I created a new version of the traditional Al Cheit prayer using their words, and I have done the same thing each year since. We use it only at one service, Yom Kippur morning.
I posted the first year's prayer here on this blog, and last year's prayer is here.
This year's prayer is similar, but different. Each year, I notice recurring themes. There are personal heartaches that are common among many people. You'll see them in the prayer below.
Let me wish you a meaningful and fulfilling Yom Kippur. May you be sealed for a good year.
Al Cheit Prayer 5774
For the sin we have sinned against You by being impatient with others, and for the sin we have sinned against You by being too hard on ourselves.
For the sin we have sinned against You by holding onto grievances, and for the sin we have sinned against You by failing to forgive.
For the sin we have sinned against You by dismissing other people’s problems, and for the sin we have sinned against You by exaggerating our own troubles.
For the sin we have sinned against You by speaking unkindly, and for the sin we have sinned against You by spreading gossip.
For the sin we have sinned against You by not treating others fairly, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not speaking when we see bullying.
For the sin we have sinned against You by thinking hateful thoughts, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not making peace where there is strife.
For the sin we have sinned against You by allowing resentments to fester, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not speaking our minds.
For the sin we have sinned against You by thinking only about ourselves, and for the sin we have sinned against You by ignoring others.
For the sin we have sinned against You by dismissing people who think differently, and for the sin we have sinned against You by being intolerant.
For the sin we have sinned against You by breaking promises, and for the sin we have sinned against You by lying.
For the sin we have sinned against You by telling secrets, and for the sin we have sinned against You by keeping secrets.
ועל כולם אלוה סליחות, סלח לנו מחל לנו כפר לנו
V’al kulam, Elo’ah s’lichot, s’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kaper lanu.
For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!
For the sin we have sinned against You by not stepping up to give our time, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not sharing our talents.
For the sin we have sinned against You by failing the ones we love, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not paying attention to our families.
For the sin we have sinned against You by losing our temper, and the sin we have sinned against You by fighting.
For the sin we have sinned against You by not giving our partners the respect they deserve, and for the sin we have sinned against You by taking them for granted.
For the sin we have sinned against You by yelling at our children, and for the sin we have sinned against You by talking back to our parents.
For the sin we have sinned against You by hurting our friends and family, and for the sin we have sinned against You by hurting ourselves.
For the sin we have sinned against You by not helping around the house, and for the sin we have sinned against You by letting others do our work for us.
ועל כולם אלוה סליחות, סלח לנו מחל לנו כפר לנו
V’al kulam, Elo’ah s’lichot, s’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kaper lanu.
For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!
For the sin we have sinned against You by excusing evil deeds and for the sin we have sinned against You by condemning unintentional acts.
For the sin we have sinned against You by taking things too seriously, and for the sin we have sinned against You by treating serious things too lightly.
For the sin we have sinned against You by indulging in self-pity, and for the sin we have sinned against You by becoming paralyzed with guilt.
For the sin we have sinned against You by confusing being busy with being helpful, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not giving ourselves a chance to rest.
For the sin we have sinned against You by accepting less than we should, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not believing that we can be better.
For the sin we have sinned against You by trying to hide our souls from You, and for the sin we have sinned against You by not opening our hearts to You.
For the sin we have sinned against You by walking through Your world of wonders with eyes that do not see, and for the sin we have sinned against You doubting the certainty of Your love.
ועל כולם אלוה סליחות, סלח לנו מחל לנו כפר לנו
V’al kulam, Elo’ah s’lichot, s’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kaper lanu.
For all of these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement!
Other Posts on This Topic:
For the Sin We Have Sinned Against You...
For the Sin We Have Sinned Against You (II)
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