Good morning, Today is Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. I don’t want to get into a whole dissertation about atonement and forgiveness (at least not today!) but want to highlight a few thoughts: The atonement one makes in Temple is for sins committed against God. The rules are clear—we need to seek forgiveness from those we have wronged. Atonement is not magic wand waved over people’s heads and then everything is okay. It is the beginning of recognizing error, atoning, and beginning a process of improvement.
This is such a lovely commentary on the High Holy Days. Your reflections on atoning for one's wrong doings and offenses, for one's human failings, for falling short of living from one's highest good, explain beautifully the spirit of atonement on Yom Kippur.
And in that spirit, I earnestly want to apologize for any offenses of mine.
I am well aware of how harsh and judgmental my responses, remarks in these past few years have been towards those whose beliefs or points of view have been upsetting, coming across to me as out of touch and dangerous. My frustration and self- righteous indignation would get the better of me. I struggle with the angish I feel about the current state of our country, our democracy, as well as the rest of the world.
Your example of non-judgmental, compassionate and thoughtful consideration of those you may disagree with, no matter how differently you may have felt, spoke volumes and provided a lesson.
By the way, I caught myself too late when making a reference to "red neck". But I did cringe ( I hope you're back is much better).
I hope you can forgive me for any offense I might have caused you.
The thirteen attributes of G-d are repeated many times for a reason.
The rabbi from UCLA Hillel offered some amazing quotes on forgiveness and "letting go" I'd like to share:
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - letting go of hate
"To be free, you have to let go of hate. If they continued to hate their erstwhile enemies, Moses would have taken the Israelites out of Egypt, but...they would still be in chains, not of metal but of the mind - and chains of the mind are the most constricting of all."
I wish for you and your family a most happy, healthy and sweet new year.
Glenn,
L' Shana Tova and G'mar Chitma Tova.
This is such a lovely commentary on the High Holy Days. Your reflections on atoning for one's wrong doings and offenses, for one's human failings, for falling short of living from one's highest good, explain beautifully the spirit of atonement on Yom Kippur.
And in that spirit, I earnestly want to apologize for any offenses of mine.
I am well aware of how harsh and judgmental my responses, remarks in these past few years have been towards those whose beliefs or points of view have been upsetting, coming across to me as out of touch and dangerous. My frustration and self- righteous indignation would get the better of me. I struggle with the angish I feel about the current state of our country, our democracy, as well as the rest of the world.
Your example of non-judgmental, compassionate and thoughtful consideration of those you may disagree with, no matter how differently you may have felt, spoke volumes and provided a lesson.
By the way, I caught myself too late when making a reference to "red neck". But I did cringe ( I hope you're back is much better).
I hope you can forgive me for any offense I might have caused you.
The thirteen attributes of G-d are repeated many times for a reason.
The rabbi from UCLA Hillel offered some amazing quotes on forgiveness and "letting go" I'd like to share:
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - letting go of hate
"To be free, you have to let go of hate. If they continued to hate their erstwhile enemies, Moses would have taken the Israelites out of Egypt, but...they would still be in chains, not of metal but of the mind - and chains of the mind are the most constricting of all."
I wish for you and your family a most happy, healthy and sweet new year.