Jerusalem Insights 619 ~~ Yom Kippur 5769

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JJE ER RU US SA ALLE EM M IIN NS SIIG GH HT TS S6 61 19 9~ ~~ ~Y Yo om mK Kiip pp pu urr 5 57 76 69 9 A journal of insights, stories and Torah thoughts from Jerusalem's Old City.

A project of Shorashim, The Biblical Shop Tiferet Israel 3, Jerusalem 97500 Tel: 011-972-2-628-9729 Email shorashimshop@yahoo.com Special Notes 1) BLOG NEWS: THREE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SHORASHIM BLOGS A) THE JERUSALEM INSIGHTS MAGAZINE TO GET ALL THE NEWS AND ALL THE INSIGHTS AND ALL THE PASSION The web based news and opinion journal http://www.JerusalemInsights.com B) "A Jerusalem Voice" Moshe's Blog http://ajerusalemvoice.blogspot.com/ We are experimenting with a new personal blog as well called "A Jerusalem Voice "to try to get all the messages out in every way that we can.

JERUSALEM INSIGHTS continues to be the flagship of Shorashim of the Old City and will continue to offer a wide variety of writers and topics.

May both sites continue to do what needs to be done.

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http://www.jerusaleminsights.com/index.php?/content/view/157/558/

CONTENTS 1) A Jerusalem Insight: THE MYSTERIOUS RASHI COMMENTARY Moshe Kempinski 2) Ha'azinu: The King & I Rabbi Asher Brander 3) Gush katif museum Ex-Residents of Gush Katif 4) The Miracle of Our Return Yehudit Tayar 5) WHO ARE WE Arlene Kushner 6) Asking God for Forgiveness_

by Rebbetzin Tzipporah Heller 7) Rabbi Kook on Yom Kippur: The Value of Life Rabbi Chanan Morrison

1) A Jerusalem Insight: THE MYSTERIOUS RASHI COMMENTARY Moshe Kempinski Anybody that has visited the Old City of Jerusalem these last several weeks would have been touched by a fascinating and incredible phenomenon. The streets and plazas of the old city are filled, all night, with people of all types walking hurriedly towards the Western Wall for Selichot prayers. Young and old, observant and those Jews who were less so, were walking together in the same direction. As my wife and I were driving home late one such night from the Western Wall we stopped at the intersection at the foot of Mount Zion. The policeman guiding traffic at the corner turned to us and said,” Everybody is suddenly religious in these days. They all think about Him now.” He said with a sparkle in his eyes. As we drove off I said “Baruch HaShem- Thank G-d”. He smiled and looked up and mouthed a “Yishtabach ShmoMay His Name be Praised”. We crossed the intersection carefully trying not to hurt all those people walking together with such similar purpose.

In the Torah portion 'VaYelech “that is usually read before Yom Kippur we read the following; "And Moshe went and he spoke the words to the Children of Israel." (Deuteronomy 31:1) Rashi, the classic Jewish commentator highlights the first words of the verse "And Moshe went" and offers as an explanation, the cryptic word "etc" and nothing more.

The question that Rashi was attempting to answer was "To where did Moshe go? In the previous torah portion, Nitzavim, we read that Moshe addresses the whole nation.

Why then did Moshe have to go anywhere to speak to the people? They were already arrayed before him.

Rashi's answer to that question was simply, "etc"?!?

Perhaps that simple explanation points to a great spiritual truth. Moshe was delivering his last message to the Jewish people. These were the last 24 hours of his life. Moshe had shepherded these people for forty years. He had carried them through difficult and tumultuous times. He was approaching the end of his mission but that did not stop this man. Rash's use of the word “veGomer” or "etc" was that the words "And Moshe went" indicated that Moshe never stopped moving and never stopped growing even during the final 24 hours of his life. That had been his spiritual strength throughout his life and it was the spiritual strength he had imparted to his descendants.

Rav Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam (January 10, 1905-June 18, 1994) the founding rebbe of the Sanz-Klausenberg Hasidic dynasty lost his wife and ten of his children in the flames of the living hell called the Holocaust. Throughout those years of terror and horror, Rabbi Halberstam continued to try to spiritually uplift and encourage his fellow prisoners despite his own personal losses. In the fall of 1945, after the liberation of the camps, the Rebbe moved to the new DP camp of Föhrenwald, On Yom Kippur of that year, General Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the camps in an attempt to "asses the state of the Jewish DP's". On that same day the Rebbe was speaking to the tattered remnants of his people.

The Klausenberger Rebbe dressed in a white kittel, the white linen robe traditionally worn on Yom Kippur, and wrapped in a large tallit, looked angelic and pure

With tears in his eyes he began by thanking God for saving the lives of those standing before him from the Nazi hell. He then pointed to his kittel – and began to speak slowly, deliberately, tearfully: "One of the reasons we wear this kittel is because it is the traditional burial garment, in which we wrap a body before laying it to rest in the ground, as we do when we bury our parents and those that came before us. Wearing a kittel on Yom Kippur thus reminds us of our final day of judgment when we will be laid to rest. It therefore humbles and breaks our hearts, stirring us to do complete Teshuvah (return). The white, linen kittel is a symbol of purity that we achieve through our introspection and efforts to repair all our wrongs.

"Since the kittel reminds us of the burial shroud of those that passed on before us," continued the Klausenberger Rebbe, "why are we wearing a kittel today? Our parents and loved ones were just slaughtered without tachrichim (burial shrouds). They were buried, with or without clothes, in mass graves, or in no graves at all…"

Suddenly, the Klausenberger Rebbe began removing off his own kittel. "No kittel!" he cried out in an anguished voice. "Let us be like our parents. Let us remove our kittels, so that they can recognize us. They won’t recognize us in kittels, because they are not wrapped in kittels…"

He continued expounding on the following words from the traditional Yom Kippur prayerbook.

"Ashamnu - Did we sin? Bagadnu - Were we unfaithful? Were we, God forbid, unfaithful to God and fail to remain loyal to him? Gazalnu - did we steal? From whom did we steal in Auschwitz and Mühldorf? … Maradnu - We rebelled. Against whom? We are guilty of sins that are not written in the machzor. How many times did many of us pray, “Master of the Universe, I have no more strength, take my soul?” We must ask the Almighty to restore our faith and trust in Him. ‘Trust in God forever.’ Pour your hearts out to Him." The Jews, young and old, religious and those that had lost faith all broke down in tears. The utter sadness, the excruciating pain and the humiliation of the past years came pouring out in wailing and sobbing.

General Eisenhower, visibly moved by the words he heard from the translator, approached the Rebbe later. He asked him if there was something he could do for him. The Rebbe simply asked that he help them find lulavim and etrogim for the upcoming festival. The general was taken aback by the simple request and immediately instructed his lieutenant Berl Smith to arrange for the items to be flown in from Italy.

The general of the mighty victorious army confronted with a simple request of faith.

Even after the horrors of turmoil of the valley of Death the Klausenberger Rebbe simply wanted to continue with a simple Mitzva. In that simple request lay the spiritual fortitude that bespoke of a power that was greater than the mightier armies.

The spiritual power expressed by Rashi's simple statement of "etc" The Jewish people in our days are entering another Yom Kippur. They will be entering the Throne room of the Almighty armed with nothing but "a contrite and broken

heart". Dressed in white kittels wrapped in large tallitot, they will be spending intense and intimate time with their Creator. The experience is exhilarating, awesome and yet frightening. The incredible spiritual journey ends with a mighty Shofar blast. Every Jew walks home tired with a sense of Holy contentment mixed with earthly anxiety.

Yet within a very short period of time, they will be out on their porches and balconies building their Succoth. They will be out on the streets buying a lulav and etrog. They will be walking in search of the simple Mitzva. That is the spiritual strength of this people. They move forward past the tragedies of their history and continue through the uncertainties of the future. The spiritual power of "and Moshe went" continues.

Each of us in our individual lives must go through the trials and uncertainties of our existence. The secret is to continue on the voyage. Our people in the land of Israel have had to endure the insanity of the Gush Katif upheaval and the brutality of Amona. The secret is to continue on the voyage.

The voyage includes the standing against those that try to thwart the voyage but the secret is in the voyage and not the destination.

2) Haazinu: The King & I Rabbi Asher Brander If not for the fact that the Almighty wrote it himself, it would seem blasphemous.

Enveloped in the midst of the wondrous but scary song known as Ha'azinu is the tragic depiction of a nation gone astray. One that has forgotten the munificence bestowed upon it by the Master of the Universe. In the classical language of the text vayishman yeshurun vayivat (Yeshurun became fat and kicked). We, who were once God's pride and joy, who reflected the Divine yashrus (upright, just, straight) in this world - have become fat and have rejected, nay booted out, God from our lives. An image of decadence, stridency and indifference emerges. he forsook the G-d who made him, he insulted the Rock of his salvation... The Rock Who bore you, you disregarded; you forsook the Almighty Who delivered you.

The cycle of punishment begins: Exile from our beloved land and suffering ensues.

Unspeakable horror is alluded in sparse, yet graphic text.

Bloated with hunger, and embattled with demons and slashed by Meriri; and the teeth of animals will I send against them along with the venom of dustcrawlers. From without, the sword shall decimate, and from within chambers, terror; both lad and lass, suckling and aged man.

We begin to sense an ominous ending, I thought, 'I shall abandon them,' I would eliminate from mankind mention of them. and it is precisely then that we encounter the unexpected turnabout Were it not...

No God says, I will never destroy you - this I guarantee. But why pray tell have we merited this? Once again we are surprised: for the enemy's amassed rage, lest their oppressors estrange; lest they say, 'Our armed might has prevailed, and not Ad-noy has performed all this.'

And here we arrive at the obvious and striking questions that plague our commentators.

1. Must God brook the fools? If there is a Divine game plan, of what consequence is the ranting of arrogant and evil simpleton clown who impudently claim victory over God? Indeed, did not Titus, Nevuchadnezzer and so many others make that very claim - and yet God allowed them to carry out their evil plans? Is God bound to the laws of maris ayin (literally, what will be seen by the eye, a rabbinic principle that focuses on how an observant Jew’s public behavior appears to others)?

2. More troubling is the apparent omission of God's past promises to the Patriarchs that He will never destroy Am Yisrael (Bereishis, 15:18 cf. Ramban). Has the Bris Bein Habesarim, the Covenant between the Parts been abrogated, chas v'shalom?

Remember after the Golden Calf, Hashem offers to make a nation out of Moshe's progeny - a necessary technical fulfillment of His promise. Total destruction is not on the table. Why then does the Torah formulate God's hesitation to destroy His people in terms of the Gentile perception, when God is seemingly mushba v'omeid previously bound to eternalize His nation?

Having recently celebrated Rosh Hashana, consider the deep words of the Ramban whose notion at once gives us comfort and remind us of the Jew's great responsibility.

Listen to his beautiful formulation and with one fell swoop, our questions vanish.

God created man among the lower creatures in order that man acknowledge his Creator and be thankful to Him. He placed in his hand the choice to do evil or good - but when people sinned willingly... only Israel remained devoted to his name and so He made known through them [His existence] by means of signs and wonders... and this became known to all nations. Now if He were to reconsider and their memory be lost... the purpose of the creation of man will be nullified completely for no one will be known amongst them who knows his Creator To acknowledge God is to affirm the world's (= man's) purpose. Devoid of meaning, whither existence? Were Bnei Yisrael to leave the world scene, then all hope for ultimate universal recognition of Hashem would cease.

Way back when, Avraham Avinu began the mission; he taught that to love God means to share the passion. [Thus Avraham is called Ohavi - the one who loved Me - by the prophet Isaiah). At that moment, k'viyachol, it is as if Hashem said to Avraham: You are My eternal people - My last hope - ein tikvah l'acharisecha. Give me nachas (joy)!

Nah al tishkacheini - Please don't forget me!

From then on, the job of the Jew has always been to inform the world there is God and the implications thereof. Simply put, our task is: l'takein olam b'malchus shakaia.

Our parsha depicts a people gone astray from its purpose: K'viyachol (it is as if), Hashem sighs:

My people are not doing their job - why are you here at all. I only placed you here to have a relationship with you and the world... But alas, I have no choice but to keep you around - for they are the only ones I have left. Were you to leave, then all would be lost. No other nations have a chance of knowing Me. And so, I need to shake you up - but only so that you should remember Me. I will never destroy you. I need you.

We just exited the Day of Judgment – where we almost completely forgot sin, omitted overt requests and focused on one theme. A theme that is all over the machzor and is the essential concept of the shofar: God, you are my melech, king. A king implies a nation. We, and I are ready for the calling. I need You and want to be needed. With all my meanderings and digressions. I am here to say I love You and want to teach the world You love them.

Let us be successful and may the next Rosh Hashana take place in the rebuilt Jerusalem with the active participation of the whole world - whose fate (although they do not know it) also hangs in the balance.

3) Gush katif museum Ex Residents of Gush Katif http://media-vision.org/GUSHKATIFMUSEUM/contact.html The museum is opened every day between 11:00 and 18:00 On Fridays, 9:00-13:00.

Address of the museum: Rehov Sha’are Tzedek 5, Jerusalem Phone : 02 6255456 Email: mgushkatif@gmail.com The museum will take the visitors on a spellbinding trip to the past, 145 before the Commom Era, when Jonathan the Hasmonean captures Gaza and establishes the first Jewish settlement. We follow the Jews in Gaza through the Mishnean times all the way through to the settling of and expulsion from the Gush by the Israeli government, three years ago.

4) The Miracle of Our Return Yehudit Tayar We never imagined that we would have the privilege of bearing witness to the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel. Those dreams seemed to be unreachable; and yet, we have returned to the mountains of Jerusalem, to the ancient site of the City of David, to the path of our forefathers from Hevron to Shechem.

Each of us who lived through 1967 - and the excitement of the feeling of awe and disbelief that we actually not only survived this war, but actually returned to reclaim our heritage - will never forget those days. Or will we? Is it only some of us who realize the miracle that we received?

When did Jerusalem become real estate? When did our history become negotiable?

When did the governments of Israel begin to ignore our historical heritage and reward the murderers of our people who proclaim their intent to destroy our country?

I, for one, will never forget my first visit to Jerusalem on the first Tisha B'Av (the ninth of the month of Av, a day of mourning for the Jewish people throughout our history) following the Six Day War. Back then, the Western Wall was almost buried with rubbish, the narrow strip allowing us to approach this part of our once-glorious Temple was too small to hold the masses pushing to get closer - to touch, to reach, to kiss the stones - and leave perhaps a small note in the cracks.

Even today, after so many years and so many blessed visits to Jerusalem, my heart is lifted when I travel the path to the Kotel, when I see the return of our people to the city and to the Cave of Machpela in Hevron. For me, it is not something to take for granted, but on the contrary, something to cherish, love and appreciate - the miracle that we have been given, the return of our people to these holy sites.

I also am unable to forget the so called "Auschwitz borders" of Israel, as Abba Eban called the pre-1967 borders of Israel. How can the governments of Israel allow themselves to forget? How can these politicians who are so wrapped up in their own ambitions endanger not only these treasures, but indeed our very existence?

We, the simple people who have returned to the ancient homeland of our forefathers, have carved out a new history for our nation. We have returned to the hills and plains of our land, built thriving communities, raised families, and now the fourth generation is continuing to build and reclaim our land.

The incredible nerve of politicians to collaborate with the enemy, allow insurgents to roam freely throughout our land and, on the other hand, instruct the police to arrest loyal Jewish citizens for even merely planning demonstrations is not only unbelievable, it is unacceptable.

Our enemies openly sell T-shirts in the Muslim market in the Old City of Jerusalem decorated with the PLO flag and saying in bold print, "Liberate Palestine" ("Palestine," to them, is the entire State of Israel). This, while Jewish property is destroyed, Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza are banned from their homes, and families are imprisoned.

What happened here? Where is the backbone of our nation? Where are our people?

The answer is really more simple than is thought. We, the simple Jews, living in the many communities throughout the Biblical lands of Judea and Samaria, are the answer. We are not afraid of looking back to our history in order to move on to ensure the future of the Jewish people in our land.

We and our children are the hope for the future, and we have emunah - strong belief in the absolute right of our people to continue to lay claim to our beloved land. We are determined, no matter what, to fight for this, with the planting of our trees, building of our homes, educating our children in the direction we know must be taken.

We are absolutely determined because we know that governments rise and governments fall, but the land stays. Those weak politicians, along with our enemies, may plan to destroy the miracles we received, but our faith is in the eternal promise given to our people by G-d Himself - and we know that it is up to us to ensure the fulfillment of this promise. No matter how many times we are threatened, beaten, arrested, no matter how many one-sided agreements are made by the destructive governments of Israel, we must continue to fight on; and in the end we shall continue

to live the miracle of our return to our homeland and heritage. We will not forget the miracle we received and will do all we can to protect this gift forever.

5) WHO ARE WE Arlene Kushner Who Are We? Do we know any longer? The signs are strong that here in Israel we have lost our way. We have now entered the period between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. If ever national soul searching was called for, it is now: We are an ancient people, with a bond to the land that is 3,000 years old.

Driven out two millennia ago, we did what no other people has ever done – what the historians had thought was impossible: We returned to the land, with identity in tact, and with the sanction of international law. We revived our ancient language and have flourished beyond all expectations. Time and time again, we defeated enemies against odds that were considered insurmountable. In the course of a defensive war over 40 years ago, we once again acquired the cradle of our heritage: The Old City, with the Temple Mount; Hebron and the Machpelah; Shilo; and more. A Jewish presence was returned to our ancient areas that had been rendered Judenrein by Jordan.

But we have a government that is apologetic about our possession of what is ours. We are being told we must give away areas that are historically Jewish, and quickly, because the “window of opportunity” is closing. What will happen if we don’t pull back to pre-’67 lines (lines, it should be noted, that were only meant to be temporary armistice lines)? The world won’t accept our legitimacy.

Excuse me? We are legitimate, in every sense of the word. The notion that we might require the present-day sanction of the UN would be farcical if it were not so serious.

The UN, which may elect Iran to the Security Council.

The simple, unalterable truth is that the world respects us as legitimate when we respect ourselves. If there is a window of opportunity closing, it is the window to our own dignity and sense of who we are.

We are meant to be a light unto the nations.

With regard to hi-tech, and medicine, we are precisely that. We have gifted the world with our advances far more than most people care to acknowledge.

But our national reputation has been sullied of late because of unprecedented levels of corruption. It matters not whether Ehud Olmert is ever indicted; the investigations and the testimonies have done their damage. The image is a dirty one, not befitting us at all. A light unto the nations must have sterling integrity.

We breathed a collective sigh of relief when Olmert submitted his resignation. As the process has since unfolded, Tzipi Livni, by a margin of 431 votes, won a primary that makes her the head of the Kadima party; if she is able to put together a coalition she will become our next prime minister.

A fresh start, you imagine? Hardly that.

Multiple charges have surfaced of irregularities within that primary – charges that are particularly significant because Livni’s margin of victory was so slight. These accusations have been made by supporters of Shaul Mofaz, the candidate who came in that very close second in the election, and by Avi Dichter, who was also a candidate, as well as serving as Internal Security Minister. The charges are too serious to ignore.

There are complaints that hours of the polls were extended at Livni’s request because some of her supporters had not had time to vote. While Dichter has charged that “In quite a few polling stations, people who hold official positions in Kaima were walking around and crudely getting involved not in how to vote, but rather, whom to vote for."

Right now we are running the risk that Olmert will be replaced by someone who achieved her position via improprieties. Are we so inured to “irregularities” – have we sunk so low – that we accept this without a murmur?

A great cry should go up now from the people. We deserve – we must have! – better.

Demanding this would be a huge step towards reclaiming ourselves and who we are meant to be. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3604716,00.html 6) Asking God for Forgiveness_

by Rebbetzin Tzipporah Heller Skip the paralyzing guilt. The classical confession, repeated five times during the prayer service, helps us do the inner work to maximize the power of the day.

There once was a drought in the land of Israel. The sages pleaded with God for mercy, but their prayers went unanswered in spite of their sincerity. Finally, Rabbi Akiva prayed, addressing God as Avinu Malkenu, our Father, our King. It was then that rain began to fall, nourishing the parched earth.

Rabbi Akiva's words opened the hearts and souls of not only that generation but also many future ones. We learned to see God not only as a monarch, but also as a loving parent.

One of the most distinct characteristics of a parent/child relationship is its unconditionality. Parents and children may feel alienated, but they can never cease to be linked. On Yom Kippur the opportunity to re-experience God's love for us is greater than it is at any other time. What that means is that God makes it possible to break down the most resilient barrier that we can erect separating us from our Father -- the barrier of sin.

The word "sin" has a terrible reputation. It is associated with paralyzing guilt that reduces our souls to dust. In fact, there are three words in Hebrew that describe "sin" which is really a failure of honest self-expression:

• One is chet, which literally means missing the mark.

• The second is avon, which means desire.

• The third is pesha, which means rebellion.

When we take responsibility for our actions and for the direction that our lives have

taken, (even when our decisions were colored by other people or external factors), we can begin to move forward. As long as we deny where we stand today, we will find that we are still there tomorrow.

There is one major obstacle to self-change. The past cannot be re-lived. The patterns that we have allowed ourselves to develop are extremely difficult to break.

How many times do we find ourselves trapped by the insidious, invisible automaticpilot. What frees us from the burden of self-imposed rigidity is God Himself. He is willing to reverse the laws of cause and effect in order to liberate us from ourselves.

The one condition that is required is that we take responsibility for our choices, and regret the damage that we have done.

The classical confession is the means that we use to do this. It is said five times on Yom Kippur during each of the silent standing prayers, the "Amidah". Rather than ending our silent devotion by beseeching God to grant us peace, we add the confession before concluding.

By studying this confession, we can do the inner work to maximize the power of the day. Let us look at it carefully.

THE CONFESSION ASHAMNU: We have become desolate.

We commit ourselves to recognizing that our failures are self-destructive.

BAGADNU: We have betrayed our potential, our families, God Himself.

We can question who we have been in our multifaceted role as a human being and as a Jew? Who have we betrayed? Is it not ultimately ourselves as well as others?

GAZALNU: We have stolen.

This includes not only financial theft, but theft of time, and misleading others into thinking that we are more accomplished than we actually are. This sin is especially damaging in that it reflects the fact that we have rejected the role in life that God has given us.

DEBARNU DOFI: We have spoken with "two mouths" -- we have been hypocritical.

We can confront our fear of rejection, and the dishonesty that we use to "cover ourselves." Who are we afraid of? Why? Should we not be more willing to tackle the reality that confronts us?

HEYVINU: We have made things crooked.

This includes all forms of dishonest rationalizations. Our hunger for decency sometimes is satiable through false justifications. We must remember that even a murderer invariably justifies himself at the time he commits the crime. We must rise above the false self-pity that at times lets us slip into situational ethics.

VIHIRSHANU: And we have made others wicked.

We have forced others into destructive responses. An example of this is a parent who slaps the face of an older child, almost forcing him into loss of verbal (and possibly even physical) self-control.

ZADNU: We have sinned intentionally.

The classical example is lying, in which case there is always full awareness of the factuality of the sin. How could we learn to bring God back into our consciousness when we are blinded by stress and fear?

CHAMASNU: We have been violent.

This includes all forms of taking the law in one's own hands. Almost everyone has fallen into the trap of letting the ends justify the means.

TAFALNU SHEKER: We have become desensitized to dishonesty.

Dishonesty feels "normal" to us. When we live in a time and place where lying is "normal," we can endeavor to envision our spiritual heroes in our shoes.

YATZNU RA: We have given bad advice.

This often is the result of being ashamed to admit ignorance. One of the most beautiful aspects of taking counsel from the Torah sages is their refreshing ability to use the words "I don't know." Committing ourselves to re-introduce this phrase can be life- changing.

KIZAVNU: We have disappointed God, ourselves and others by not living up to our promises.

We tell people that we can be counted upon, when we really mean that we can be counted upon if things work out. When they don't, it is important to ask one's self: Why is it that in situations where integrity and convenience can't coexist, it is always integrity that must be sacrificed?

LATZNU: We have been contemptuous.

We have diminished the importance of people and values that deserve respect. We all know at least one person who makes himself/herself "big" by devaluing others. If that person is ourselves, then we must question the direction that our need for self-esteem takes us.

MARADNU: We have rebelled.

We, in our bottomless insecurity, have found ourselves negatively proving ourselves endlessly both to God and to our fellow man. How many times this year could our lives been spiritually improved, if we didn't have to "teach" anyone a lesson?

NIATZNU: We have enraged people.

We have purposely pushed other people's buttons. We have caused God's anger to be awakened by our self-destructive behavior. We've let our desire for human connection lead us to destructive interactions.

SARARNU: We have turned aside.

We have confronted truth and looked the other way. We have chosen ease over morality.

AVINU: We fallen victim to our impulses.

Would our lives be improved if we learned to not only ask ourselves the question "what" but the question "when"? The desire for instant gratification has financial, physical and emotional implications.

PESHANU: We have broken standards of behavior that we know to be right and then justified this because of our egotism.

Have we not found ourselves justifying bad decisions with lie after lie? Have we not moved forward because to do so would mean tacitly admitting that our present level is not "perfect" enough to gratify our bottomless egos?

TZARARNU: We afflicted others.

Even in situations where harsh words are demanded, whenever we go beyond what is called for, we are accountable for the pain suffered by every unnecessary word. While we may be just letting off steam, our victims may believe every word that we say.

The result can be a tragic diminishment of their self-esteem.

KISHINU OREF: We have been stiff-necked.

We have been stubborn and unwilling to redefine ourselves. No matter how wrong we are, we insist that we are right.

RISHANU: We have been wicked.

This includes all forms of physical aggression or financial injustice (such as refusal to repay a loan). When Moses saw his fellow Jew striking another Jew, he called him "rasha." He never used this phrase in any other context.

SHICHATNU: We have been immoral.

This includes all forms of dehumanizing "hunting" members of the opposite sex, or the equally dehumanizing choice of becoming "prey." Do we question why we select a specific image to be the one that we use to let the world know who we are?

TAINU: We have erred.

This, of course, is not a reference to sins that we have done because we weren't aware of better options. This refers to the choice to remain ignorant out of fear or laziness that inevitably leads to making further mistakes. This is a good time to make a solid, defined resolution to learn more. Let it replace the vague realization that time is slipping by.

TIATANU: We have misled others.

We have spread our ignorant assumptions and thereby victimized others.

The purpose of studying this list is not to wallow in guilt. It is to bring us to the point where we can honestly come before God and say, "This is who I was. Help me be who I want to be. Help me find my truest self."

His help is guaranteed. He is our Father, not only our King.

Author Biography: With her trademark blend of wit, down-to-earth advice, and profound Torah scholarship, author and educator Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller with Sara Yoheved Rigler shows us how to confront the eight essential challenges of life - including the challenge of anger, the challenge of relationships, the challenge of parenting, even the challenge of happiness. In “Lets Face It!� we learn how to embrace life's numerous challenges and transform them all into positive opportunities for personal growth and a deeper connection to the Creator.

7) Rabbi Kook on Yom Kippur: The Value of Life Rabbi Chanan Morrison We conclude the Al Cheit confessional prayers of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, with the following admission: "My God! Before I was formed, I was of no worth. And now that I have been formed, it is as if I was not formed."

This prayer needs to be examined. Before I was formed, of course I was of no worth I didn't exist yet. And after I was formed, why should the prayer say that it is "as if I was not formed"? Do I exist or not?

Fulfilling My Purpose Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook interpreted this passage in a novel fashion. He understood the prayer as an introspective insight into the meaning of our existence.

"Before I was formed, I was of no worth." Clearly, before I was born I was not needed in this world. I was of no worth, for nothing required my existence. There was not yet any purpose to my existence, there was no mission for me to fulfill. Since I was not yet needed, I was not born in a previous generation.

"And now that I have been formed...." Since my soul has entered the world at this point in time, it must be that now there is some mission, some goal for me to accomplish. Some aspect of the world needs me to correct it and complete it.

And yet, "it is as if I have not been formed." Were I to dedicate my life towards fulfilling the purpose for which I was created, this would confirm and justify my existence. But since my actions are not in accordance with my true goal, I am not accomplishing my life's mission. And if I am not fulfilling my purpose in life, my very existence is called into question.

If I do not accomplish the purpose for which I was placed in this world, then I have reverted back to the situation preceding my birth, when, since I was not needed in the world, I was not yet formed. Thus, even "now that I have been formed, it is as if I was not formed."

[Adapted from Olat Re'iyah vol. II, p. 356]