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SELICHOS: Prayers asking
G-d to forgive us our faults
(Under the condition that we do all
that is humanly possible to
prevent ourselves from repeating the very sins we are confessing!!!)
The Rambam, in Hilchos T'shuvah
(the Laws of Repentance) Chapter two, Halachah six teaches us: "Repentance
and outcry [in prayer] are always proper, but between Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur they are especially proper and are answered immediately, as is written (Isaiah
55:6) 'Seek HaShem when He is found [call to Him when He
is near]. Any parent desires that his child grow into a honest,
productive asset to society, and HaShem is liken to the Father of the Children
of Israel numerous times in Tanakh:
Deuteronomy 14:1 You are the children of the Lord your God....
Deuteronomy 8:5 You shall also consider in your heart, that, as a man chastens
his son,
so the Lord your God chastened you.
Hoshea 14:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him
with the rod of men, and with such plagues as befall the sons of
men.
Take notice that in the
previous verses, Israel (or her King -- specifically King Solomon) are called
G-d's "son"; but also note that the concept of punishment in order to
correct is included in two of the four verses. Let us look a few more
verses from the Jewish scriptures where the concept of G-d's chastisement is
addressed:
Psalms 94:12 Happy is the man whom you chasten, O Lord, and whom you teach from your
Torah.
Proverbs 3:12. For whom the Lord loves he corrects; like a father does with a son in whom he delights.
Proverbs 13:24. He who spares his rod hates his son; but he who loves him disciplines him early.
Proverbs 28:7. Whoever keeps the Torah is a wise son; but he who is a companion of riotous men
shames his father.
In the above verses we see that one
should be comforted by G-d's chastisement, and we also see the concept of Israel
as G-d's "son" expanded. But we also see in Proverbs 28:7 where
a wise son keeps G-d's Torah; this can be compared to 2 Samuel 7:14 (see above)
when G-d tells us that He will chastise his "son" (King Solomon) if he
is to fall into the habit of sin. So now what we have shown is that Israel
is likened to G-d's "son"; and that Israel's Kings are likewise called
G-d's "son". We have also depicted -- with verses from the
Jewish scriptures -- that keeping Torah is expected of G-d's "son" and
that G-d will chasten His "son" when His "son" commits
iniquity. And to make the position of the Jewish scriptures clear
regarding who is obligated to keep G-d's Torah we will look at the following
verses from the Book of Psalms:
Psalms 147:19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgments to Israel.
20. He has
not dealt so with any other nation; and as for his ordinances, they have not known them. Hallelujah!
Enough said.
Next we will give over a story told by R' Noach Weinberg,
Rosh Yeshiva of Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem, Israel. R' Weinberg gives over
the mashal like this:
"A young boy
is playing ball with a friend. The boy is standing near the end of his
driveway, catching most of the balls tossed his way, but allowing a few to get
past him and enter the street. On one such occasion, as the ball gets past
him, he turns and runs into the street -- of course, without looking. He
hears the sound of skidding tires, looks up and sees a car that has
stopped just a few yards away. The driver of the car sticks his head
out the window and yells: "Crazy kid, you're gonna get yourself
killed!" But our young lad merely grabs the ball and goes back to
playing catch. A few minutes later, he misses the ball again. Once
more, without looking, he dashes into the street to retrieve the ball. And
once again he is greeted by the sound of skidding tires. This time he
looks up and sees that a car has stopped just a few feet from hitting him.
The driver sticks her head out the car window and berates the boy, suggesting
that his lifespan will not be very long if he continues running into the street
without looking first. Again the boy laughs, pick up the ball and returned
to his game of catch. Another fifteen minutes pass, and our young boy
fails to catch the ball again. Again he races into the street, again he
fails to look first, and again he hears the sound of skidding tires.
However this time, when he looks up to see a halted car only feet away, his face
takes on a horrified look. He drops the ball and takes off in the opposite
direction. The driver of this car open the door, and takes off running
after our young ball-player. The chase last several blocks with the driver
catching the boy, putting him over his knee, and spanking him several times with
a force that the young boy will not soon forget. Who was the driver of the
third car?"
The answer to R' Weinberg's question,
once digested, is really the only solution to the goings-on at the end of our
story. The third driver was the boy's father, as only the boy's father
cares enough about him to punish him for an action that -- if continued -- is
likely to end up tragically. Thus we see, depicted in R' Weinberg's story,
the concept of a father (G-d), chastising His son (Israel) for his action, not
necessarily as a punishment as much as to warn away from an action that will be
detrimental.
Next we will look at verses depicting sin, and either the
failure to admit the sin, or correctly admitting the sin and asking for
forgiveness:
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.
4 And the serpent said to the woman, surely you shall not die; 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate, and gave also to her husband with her; and he ate.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, Where are you? 10 And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, which I commanded you that you should not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I
ate.
Here we see the first example of
"passing the buck". Adam, instead of admitting that he has
transgressed G-d's command, instead blamed Eve. The following verses
further solidify this concept:
Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins shall not prosper; but whoever confesses and forsakes them
shall have mercy.
Job 31:33 Have I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom?
We can see that the failure to come to
terms with the fact that we have sinned is depicted in the Jewish scriptures as
a great stumbling-block. Now we will look at a few verses which teach us
about the power of confessing our sins:
Leviticus 26:40 If they shall
confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass
which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary to me;
Numbers 5:7 Then they shall confess their sin which they have done....
Joshua 7:19 And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give, I pray you, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and
make confession to him; and tell me now what you have done; hide it not from me.
1 Kings 8:30 And listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place; and hear you in heaven your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.
31 If any man trespasses against his neighbor, and an oath is laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath comes before your altar in this house;
32 Then hear you in heaven, and do, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
33 When your people Israel are stuck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you, and shall turn again to you, and
confess your name, and pray, and make supplication to you in this house;
34 Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.
35 When heaven is closed, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and
acknowledge your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them;
36 Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, and teach them the good way where they should walk, and give rain upon your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.
Nehemiah 9:2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and
stood and confessed
their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
Psalms 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity. I said,
I will confess my
transgressions to the Lord; and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
(NOTE:
The concept of human suffering, when viewed in terms of the Jewish scriptures,
brings into full view the blessings G-d gives us when He chastises us here in
this world, rather than in the "World to Come". Our pain and
suffering are an atonement for our own sins. This Tanakh concept can be
seen in the following verse from the Book of Psalms
25:18 "Look upon my affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.")
Next, we will look at
the various verses used in the Selichos (Supplications) which are prayed the
week before Rosh Hashanah through Erev Yom Kippur:
(to be continued....)
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