Themes from YK Tefilah- The Vidui | Rabbi Yossi Goldin | September 30th 2025

Okay. Okay. Good morning to to everybody. Um and as we always open up, we dab in that our learning together today should be a protection for all of our um should be >> it's not working. >> Hello. >> It's on. It's on. Maybe I'll try to make it higher. >> Is that better? >> Okay. Um and that our learning should be aim should be to all those who have been injured. Just yesterday we heard about a number of soldiers who were injured in an attack in uh in Gaza. Um and we um we dive in that Karu should bring to all those who have been injured in all different levels during this war Israel. And of course um during this time we d that Hashem should give guidance to our leaders to make the right decisions. is ratashem. Okay. So um right before yom kipur and I think there's nothing more appropriate than to explore um an aspect of the of yum kipur because as we mentioned one of the beautiful aspects of this of having this topic is that we're able to at different times of the year tap into and and explore certain that are connected to that time of the year. So I would think that perhaps the most appropriate that really I think defines the ykeeper experience and what I want to focus on today is the of what we call the vidway. The vidway is the that we say every single of of starting with and not only do we say it once we say it twice which we're going to talk about today. We say it in our own personal we also say it um during the khazarats as the kazin um goes over again and so vidy is defin we even say it before before yum kipper which we'll talk about today. So it is definitely the that I think really signifies and defines the yummipper experience. And so I wanted to spend some time today um understanding the history of it, the concept of it and also exploring a number of important themes that I hope will um make our yum experience more meaningful this year. So the concept of voy voy literally means in in English language confession. Okay. Um, and as we'll see though, that's not really the most accurate definition. And what vidi really means is is a is a an honest accounting of ourselves as we as we approach baru um on yum kiper. However, voy historically did not start with yum kipur and actually is something that began independent of yumipur. If you look at source number one, the concept of having a vidoy of confessing or discussing our sins is really something that is that exists independent of yumipur. The Torah tells us in source number one, if anybody were to do any kind of sin to we'll just right now use the simplest understanding is to is to rebel against Hashem and that person becomes guilty. Meaning we're the Torah is describing somebody who sins before God. So what is the process of how he can go through the process of returning to but we know what we call chuva says the Torah he should confess the sin that he has done and through that and then he should also bring um it's referring to what's called the which was aan that was brought for certain types of sins and there are certain times where he should also add a certain extra payment Again, we're not getting into all the details for now. Aeramo and he should also pay back the person that he had since. So, what the Torah is describing is the process of chuva. And this process of chuva a involves at least historically during the times of the bdash involved a process of bringing a corban, bringing a sacrifice to Hashem. If you did something wrong to somebody and caused them to lose any monetary and have have monetary loss, you were commanded to return the money that you had or any damage that you had incurred. And part of the process of bringing a kurba corban involved something called vidi where the owner would stand over the qurban and he would confess and verbalize the sin that he had committed. Okay. And this is independent of rashan and yum kipur. This was the process of chuva. The classic process of chuva has always included a component that we call vidoy. The raam in source number two notes this as well. The raam in source number two in chuva he's describing the classic process of chuva which by the way exists throughout the year. The concept of chuva does not only exist during chuva the concept of doing chuva fundamentally is something throughout the year. A person sins they've created a distance between themselves and there is a mitzvah to return to hashem. So look at source number two. Any mitzvah that a person in the Torah, whether it is a positive commandment or a negative commandment, if somebody violates one of those sins, whether you do it on purpose or you do it by accident, when you do and you and you return to Hashem uh from from the sin, you have to You are obligated as part of that process to do something called as the as the PK says that the that the Torah of the the the PK we just saw earlier describes this process called where you're going to confess you're going to outline the sin that you've committed. Excellent. Excellent question. And there's a question that we're going to get to at the very end today which is which is what this concept of v if if voy refers to some form of a confession or confession or verbalization of my sin. So what does that have to do with voy kurim? Excellent excellent question hold that hold that thought asked that question asked that question and and they come up with something very fascinating which we'll get to towards the end. Okay which is which they suggest that voy is is fundamentally in the Torah classically voy refers to the confession of our sins. We'll get to your question. It's an excellent question says the Rambam. This is the concept of what I would call verbalizing. I mean I use the word confession. When I say confession sometimes I just think that it's it's too out there. So verbalization of our sins I think is the best way is the best way to do it. Vid is a mitzvah and vo is an actual positive commandment then says how do I do this verbalization please I've sinned and I've sinned and I've been iniquity and I've been negligent in front of you I did the following sin and I feel bad for what I have done I will not return to doing it shall Vidoy and this is the main concept of voy and what the raam has done here and we're not going to get into all of the details but the Rambam has outlined a four- stage process for chuva um there are four according to the Rambam at least there are four parts to the process of how a person is meant to do chuva again we're talking about chuva year round we're not even talking about the chuva that we know of in chuva yet we're talking about chuva in general what is chuva involved number one is what's called azivat I need to stop sitting Right. Step number one is if you want to if you want to get atonement for the sin that you're doing, stop doing it. That's called number two. Sorry. >> Well, well, it depends what you mean by it's the same idea. You have to recognize that you're doing something. So certainly that's going to be a step in order to do it. Number two is what's called means I need to regret that I did it. I need to feel bad. Maybe that's what you're referring to. Like a recognition that this is something wrong. I feel bad for what I did. Number three, the Rambam is what's called means, I commit to improving in the future. Meaning, if you just say, I I feel bad for doing it, but you don't actually resolve to do better. And then number four, which is what we've been talking about, is the verbalization of all of that. Because the first three, you could be just thinking about these things. You could stop sinning, think about how bad you feel, say in your mind, you're not going to do it. Says the Rambam, it also needs to include something called vidoy, which is a verbalization of that sin. and a verbalization of the fact that you don't that you will you will not you will not do it again. And the truth is that the Rama mentions this again in source number three. Source number three the Rambam again discussing the concept of you should stop doing it and again you should commit to not doing it again. You should feel bad. So again, we've already seen three of the of the of the the components as the says after I've returned, I feel bad for what I have done. And then if you've done all this, then Hashem will basically almost testify that you will not return to it, that you'll have the support of God if you go through this process. And then he says at the very end and you have to verbalize all of these aspects of of of of sin. That is what was known as voy and that is voy. Now as we mentioned though so far we've been talking about voy we haven't even mentioned yum kipper or rashashana. So where does it come in? Where do we see this idea of yum kipper being a day dedicated to voy? So that actually before we even get to our field actually begins with the avodash because if you look in where they discuss the process of the avodash during the times uh I mean in beta mikdash in the times when there was a beta mikdash there was a major component called voy look at source number four this is we're only bringing you one Mishna but this actually takes place this this step this stage takes place a number of times throughout the avoda This is again we're now in the middle of the aod of the of the of the and he's about to send off the this goat that's going to be sent to Azazel. He leans he puts both hands on this goat and he verbalizes something. He confesses something. This is what he would say. So here the cohane gets up and on behalf of all of Israel, he says Israel has sinned. They've done this. Again, the three different languages of sin, different types of sins. They've done this in front of you. Please forgive them. So we see already historically this concept of vidoi was a prominent part of the avodash. According to Kazal there were three times that the kohhane as part of the avod would do the vidoi in a very public way. Once was he would do it on behalf of himself and his family. The second time was on behalf of him and all of the kohanim and and then the third was on behalf of all of Israel. >> Say every every year. >> Excellent. Exactly. Exactly. You're going to what we're going to see is much of the text of what we have today is patterned partially off of what was what the quagadul said and also partially just the this the classic vidway that we normally that we normally say just one one one qu one one point and then I'm happy to take a question based off of this that is where we develop our own the concept that is meant to be a day of vidy for us look at source number five this is the says gimbleat I've already explained to you says that anytime you want to do chuva you need to do and that is a positive commandment that whenever a person sins you should always do voy then it says when is the main time for voy when is the main time that a person should verbalize or confess their sins. During the times of the mikdash, there was this national type of vidy that the gadul would do on behalf of all of us says that he would confess all of the sins of Israel continues or concludes the Because we are patterning our and our experience after what the Coen Gad did in the beta mikdash. Therefore, we our going to include at every single step of the is going to include voy as well. Yes. >> I just confused on number three and then isn't it interesting when it talks about Hashem regretting that he created man before the it says and then when the Yakov sons try to comfort him it says they they couldn't comfort they use the same verb. So the same verb seems to be used for regret in the Tanakh and also for comfort. How did that go? you're asking an excellent excellent excellent question um in terms of how to understand the word the concept of the word of the word and what means I don't want to spend too much time on it now it actually is is is much talk about that specifically during the times of how do we understand the concept of there are many who want to explain that does it means comfort but it doesn't mean comfort at at it doesn't mean comfort when when hashem says when god decides to destroy the world what does it mean there it doesn't mean comfort so many understand it to mean not necessarily regret but to relook at things because what does it mean that God regrets God doesn't regret right God the concept is that many many explain that what it means is is that at its core is about looking at the same situation but seeing it from a different angle and that's the root perhaps of the concept of in general that comfort how does a person receive comfort when they go through some kind of tragedy nothing's changed right after tishab why are we comforted that mikdash wasn't wasn't rebuilt the answer is is that the core of the concept of nikama is an ability to see the same thing but to see it with new glasses and to be able to see layers of uh of hope or silver lining even within the same experience and that but again I don't want to I don't want to get off topic too much but that's that's what many people understand based on based on based on your question >> it means something different exactly mean basically means doesn't mean comfort in the way that we normally understand it means something a little bit different which helps us understand how to achieve comfort but that's a different a different point yes >> that the Best time is actually I would think the best time would be immediately after >> the answer. So the question the question that was asked is wait a second why does it and this is exactly what I wanted to get to right now we're seeing two different models for voy we see very clearly that there's a model called voy and not just voy it's really chuva chuva and vu together which is you're supposed to do every time you do an aira but which by the way you're correct the answer is if in October or in December or if in January I do a sin when's the best time to do chuva and to do voy right then and there absolutely so then the question becomes well then what what is the mitzvah of voy meaning if there's a if there's a year round mitzvah of chuva and I always have to do chuva when I do a sin so then what what what are we doing now what is this period called where we focus on chuva and why are we focusing on on voy so it's an excellent question I think there are two there are two approaches that we that we could take number one is it's always the same mitzvah but when you're about to be judged that's like you know the deadline you know when you do when you do a sin in January Okay. Or inh or or or in kislave. Yes, you should do chuva then. But what if you didn't? When's your deadline to be like, well, if you didn't do it then then you're going to you're going to get punished. So usually what happened is I think this is how most of us view it. Most of view it most of us view it as well. Okay, I didn't I didn't do chuva back then. God's about to judge me. This is yim. This is yim norm. These are the days of awe. So what should we be focusing on right now? Doing chuva for all those aos that I did throughout the year that I that I really should have done earlier. You're 100% correct. But this is kind of like the deadline. If you haven't done like we're we're all very good at procrastinating right at some point the buck stops here. So one understanding is to basically say there is no special chuva of rash and yum kipur. Well all we're doing is this is the deadline to do chuva for all those things that we've done throughout the year that we should have done chuva for but we never did. Alternatively another way of saying it looking at it is that no there's two different types of chuva. There's the chuva year round which is focused on individual sins. Every sin I do I should go through the process of chuva and I should go through the process of vidi but then there's a process that we go through on rashashana and specifically on yum kipur which is where we took we it's more looking at us the totality of the personality where we stand there before God and we don't just you should and you could and by the way there's there's something very valuable about also focusing on specific sin but we're doing much more than that we're looking at ourselves and our overall relationship with and we're asking what is this really all about another way of saying this and I heard this from of my rebum of m Rosenswag Rosha University. He said that the mitzvah of Chuva year round is a mitzvah of are you living up to your values? You have values and are you living up to those values? That's the that's the mitzvah of chuva year round suggested of roen swag. The mitzvah of chuva and rasham is totally different. It's not a it's not are you living up to your values. It's what are my values? It's understanding your priorities. It's reassessing the entire who I am. It's standing in front of God and digging deep within yourself and asking what are my priorities through the rest of the year. It's okay. I've set up my values and if I fall, I need to then do chuva for that. Rasham kipper is is a whole reassessment of who I am. What are my dreams? What are my what what what do I want to accomplish this year? What are the things that are important to me? How do I and that says roenswag is the chuva and the vidoy that is fundamentally different from the rest of the year. But there those are the two main approaches. One approach is to say no, it's the same type of mitzvah just this is the deadline. The other is to look at this and suggest there's something more happening on rash on yum kipra specifically where we're really assessing ourselves in a much more to in a much more of a totality type of type of way. Is there any concept of just getting into a blank on forgiveness without talking specifically about sin? >> There is I I think meaning meaning is there is there is there is there such a thing is there such a thing as achieving forgiveness without chuva. >> Yeah. In other words, the community starts again on >> so so it's it's actually it's actually a makus in the gamarra. The gamarra has a whole makus. What you're referring to is the concept there is a concept in the Gar called there's a concept that the just the the con the whole essence of helps a person achieve atonement and there's a whole conversation the GRA is that only if you do chuva too or even if you don't do chuva and there's an opinion rebi is of the opinion that even without chuva and it's a whole it's it's an important question we generally understand that yum kiper should go along with chuva that they have a person should be doing his own chuva but that there is a power to yum kiper. You are correct as well that there are some that differentiate between the individual and the collective that as a nation am Israel is able to achieve a certain sense of of kaparan atonement as a nation which is what represented by the by the by the co and the avod and all of that whereas individual is something different and that requires an element of chuva but it's it's it's a big it's it's a very very big discussion >> I read in the art master that um one does chuva every year again even for the previous >> that's also a question. >> Yeah. No, >> it's a mafus. Yeah. >> Said why? Because and especially after Rajashana, we see who the king did. We didn't step on the toes of King Charles who can't do anything to us. We stepped on the toes of Henry VII who killed all his wives. You know, it's really Hashem. Every year we we realize more and more the power of hashem and how >> as as we gain as we gain a better understanding >> we have to >> yes it's also it's there's the discussion whether or not a person needs to do chuva for past year's sins it's only for the year that I just did or even let's say sins that I did years ago that's it's it's >> as every year as we gain more of an understanding >> we get an understanding of god y very nice okay now so we've been discussing until now as we've seen there's there's there's two models of chuva that could be one and the same or could be different one is the concept of chuva and voy the concept of confessing our sins every time we do and then there's the concept of doing chuva specifically during during yum kipper now and as and as we and as we saw in in in source number five the voy that we do on yum kipper is patterned after two things it's patterned after number one the regular type of vidoy which is anem please forgive me it also is patterned after the vidy that the coagul did on yum kipper okay now what should this text include Sorry do become each of them becomes >> yes in in in our own way or as a community we I think we we reenact there are some that say we'll talk about it too that when we do it as a that's really reenacting what was happening whereas the individuals the individual is a little bit different but yes yes so what should this what should this voy include meaning what's important in the text aside so there's a very fascinating gamarra source number six first the gammorra discusses the minhug that we have of starting to say vido already on not only just starting on but even the beginning of source number six the rabbis taught mitzvah there is a mitzvah to start before it gets dark sorry no sorry like the real vid is to start once it gets dark the rabbis added You should do vidy even before you have what's called your second even before you have your final meal. The is to have earlier in the day, you should dk and in that you also should do vidy. Why? Because we're afraid maybe something will happen. You'll choke or something will happen during the suda and you will pass away and you won't have had the opportunity to do vidoy and therefore you should do voy uh earlier on then says the gor well then then you might say well if I did vi then I'm pretty I'm all set. I I did voy before I shouldn't have to do voy anymore. And even though you did vi before you eat and drink, you should do again after you eat and drink because maybe you did some kind of sin. Maybe you maybe you lost your temper with one of your children or you got upset at this or you did that or or who knows what kind of conversation you had in the hopefully it was better than normal but you know because you might have done something wrong we should do vid again. And then he said, and then the gar continues. Even though you've just done voy at night and then you do vid again the next morning and after and after you do vo again at mus and after mus you do vi again at you do vi again vi is the defining characteristic of of of yipro and where should we say it when we're when we're saying it as an individual in the in the in our personal we say it at the end of the Whereas when we're doing it as part of is actually incorporated into the itself meaning if you pay attention this is very interesting the vidy that we do in our personal is said at the very very end after we've said most of elk whereas in theat it's it's incorporated into the now this is a very interesting kimar never understood why hopefully we'll get to it hopefully we'll talk about it but this is a very interesting kimarra because if I only have to do voy once Okay, you're right. So maybe at night if I said if I if I did vi at night if yum kiper I went home afterwards maybe I did something wrong. Okay, but between shak and musf okay there's some time there. There's not that much time. Why am I saying voy why does every single This is also yum kipper. We're hopefully on our best behavior on yum kipur and yet here we are every single saying the vidoy twice. It seems almost you could argue it seems almost like we're just pushing we're pushing we're pushing things a little bit too far here. like why why are we focusing on this vidway so much? So I I I think the simple understanding is is it's not as much it is of course about trying to it's just another opportunity to to to to attain and to achieve a level of of real chuva meaning you could you could just suggest this is about really we're going to say it 10 times and hopefully at least two of them we had kavan okay that's one way to say it you could say you know listen the more you say it you just want to say I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry hoping that a a few of those will actually be sincere and the person who's listening not the Well, we'll we'll we'll we'll we'll we'll listen and we'll forgive. Another way of saying it is perhaps what this is highlighting is to help us understand that this is what yipur is all about. It's not as much about the actual vidy that we're saying. Of course, that's important, but it's also meant for us to get an understanding. This is what yumipur is all about. Yumipur is a day of in order to achieve that we have to do our part. We have to be an active participant in that. Why did the coin go have to do voy three times? Why could he just say one voy for everybody? Why did he have to say one vidy for his family and one voy for his for the kohanim, another voy for for for all of I don't know for sure why. But perhaps the suggestion is that is that wanted vidi to be an integral part of the avod. It needed to be there at every stage. At every important stage there needed to be voy to remind us that this is the essence of yum kipur. is a day of and our active involvement in that process is key to achieving that. So perhaps that's why we spend our day fully in this process of vidoy to to to be an active participant in this to not just sit there and be like kind of like what you were describing before I'll sit down and God will you know he'll wipe me clean it'll all be good. No, we need to be actively part be an active participant in this in this process. But then the Gmorra continues and this is what we were getting to. My Omar, what should you say? What should be the main defining aspect of this vidy? What should this vidy include and the gumar lists a whole bunch of opinions? Rav says the key to vidoy is for us to say, God, you know the secrets of the world. Like you know what I'm thinking about. You know everything about me. We're still sorry. We're still in source number six. We're in the second paragraph. Second paragraph in source number six that says that the key phrase for the vidoy is from the depths of our heart. Perhaps is highlighting that the most important aspect of of archuvenar vidoy is that it be is that it be genuine that it be real and then the garra goes on and discusses a number of different opinions but let's look at the endomar marzuch the underlined part of the second paragraph in source number six. This is how we pass says all those other opinions were important but only if you didn't say the following words but we have sinned. Once you say those words, if you say those words of katanu says marzuchra, that's all you need to do. That is vido. Now, does that mean I should only does that mean that we can make our much quicker this year on get up there and say, "God, thank you very much. I'm going to go take a nap for the rest of yipper." No, of course not. Although that might be very enticing, but doesn't mean that those are the three words in their magic formula. Okay. What we're what Marzuchra is highlighting here is what is the essence of vidoy? What should we be thinking? What is the most important aspect of vidoy? Which again, what is voy? Voy is the most important aspect of chuva. It'salanu but we have sinned. Ah an excellent question and by the way if you look if you think about all the vid that we say is is in is in the plural. So hopefully we'll get to that as well but I want to just focus on this for one second. Why is it? But aside from the fact that it's in plural, why is it that the key is I think if we were to think about this in any relationship, any relationship that we have, any relationship that breaks down between two people, between a husband and wife, between a parent and child, between two friends, between us and God, often the most important aspect or the most important step in achieving reconciliation is a recognition that I'm sorry. What's the most important thing that one side can say to the other in order to achieve reconciliation? I did something wrong and I apologize. It's the hardest thing to do. It's the hardest thing for anybody to say to somebody else. I'm sorry. I was wrong. >> Adam and and we say that that fact that didn't say I was wrong. You blame them. Yeah. >> I mean the the fact the fact that this is a for for for I'm sure it is and most of the things that we're doing in general in life are uh are some you know in terms of your Yes. 100%. The fact that who did blame and who did blame the snake absolutely absolutely personal responsibility or personal accountability is the most important thing. And that's what I think they're saying here. I think that's what the Gmorra is highlighting. The Gomorrah is highlighting that the key to any reconcil reconciliation whether it's a human whether it's in interpersonal relationships or it's our relationship with God is us looking to God in a real way not just saying the words but to think about it and to and and and to really contemplate it. I'm sorry God I did wrong. I tried. I I'm I am wrong. I am sorry. Right? Everyone will joke that that's like you can't get any can't get any any guy to say I'm sorry. But it's true in all types of relationships. It's hard to do so. It's hard to admit we've done something wrong. And therefore what Kazal are highlighting here is that the most important aspect the most important part is yes >> one thing that comes up is why it's important to say it again again is that diet in other words lose weight you can't just say I want diet breakfast >> I've tried that many times you're It doesn't work >> to watch. So completely similar because >> consistency, >> right? >> Consistency. Absolutely. Absolutely. >> Resistance. >> Absolutely. Y. So you're saying you're saying that there's a consistency that we're trying to to to build a certain resistance and a certain Yes. Absolutely. I think you're 100% correct. In source number eight, Ralevich has a has a beautiful idea regarding the relationship between vidi and the mitzvah of chuva. Overall as we've talked about we mentioned that there are four stages at least according to of chuva. One of them is this thing that we call voy what we call verbalization confession of of our sins. So salvage points out that chuva is one of many mitzvot where there is a dichotomy between what we call the ma mitzvah the action that we do and what we call the mitzvah fulfillment of that mitzvah. says for example normally for many mitzvah let's say the mitzvah of shaking the lulaf okay so what is the act of the mitzvah what is the mitzvah of shaking the lulv the shaking of the lulaf when do I fulfill the mitzvah how I fulfill the mitzvah when I shake the lulaf not a trick question shake shaking the lulaf right the mitzvah the act of the mitzvah and the k and the fulfillment of the mitzvah are one and the same that is true of many mitzvah but then there are some mitzvah says where there is a differentiation there is a separation between the act that you do and the fulfillment. Why? Because there are some mitzvah that the fulfillment is not based on any action. It's what he calls a it is an internal fulfillment. Whether or not you do chuva, chuva is the mitzvah. Chuva is the mitzvah to return to Hashem. Now, if I if I get up there and I just say the words of the vid, have I done have I fulfilled the mitzvah of chuva? I've done the mitzvah but the mitzvah the fulfillment of the mitzvah is only believe he gives another example he says he says this is also true of okay what is the mitzvah and the act of dvening saying the words if I come to I say the words have I fulfilled the mitzvah of ding to hashem I've done the action have I fulfilled it not necessarily because the fulfillment of the mitzvah itself is done only internally is only if I'm able to not just dive in but direct my thoughts and my heart and my prayers to look at source number source number eight where he says this beautifully says we see this idea also invod says fundamentally is an internal process The main aspect of chuva returning to is not achieved through action or through any kind of activity. Rather, it is a process that sometimes takes years. It begins with regret with a sense of guilt that a person feels like there's some aspect of his life that is missing with a sense of loneliness that you're just wandering in in a in a in an expanse of of emptiness. You feel bankrupt but it means like bankrupt morally. Shalom. You feel totally just abandoned. The real process of chuva is a long process. Until you achieve this level of returning to Hashem, it's not like I just go up there and I say, "I'm sorry, Hashem. Okay, I've done chuva." No. is an internal process that sometimes takes longer. It grows naturally organically. Metamorphosis. What's a metamorphosis? Metamorphosis says from part of that process is what we call the ma chuva. What is the muva? That's the vidi. But what's the chuva? The chuva is an internal process. The chuva is something that we can only fulfill ourselves deeply and personally with says that is the act of chuva. But the actual it fulfillment. But if you get up and you do voy without having gone through some part of that internal process then you will be lacking. You'll be lacking in your in your in in your actual mitzvah of chuv. He gives a couple of other examples he talks about. One other example he gives is a okay a person who goes is going through certain uh through um um through through um forgive me I'm losing my English morning. Okay. So he says for salvation there are certain acts that are incumbent upon you that you're supposed to do this. You're supposed to sit on the floor. You're supposed to tear your clothing. There are acts that you do. But do those are those the is that the kum of of of being in mourning? No. The kum the fulfillment of being in real mourning is only achieved internally emotionally. But you do certain actions that help bring that about that help express that internal expression. They're an expression of how you're feeling internally. But so that so there it says there are certain mitzvot where there is a different a separation between the kum and the and the and the and the mice itself which gets us to the next question and that is why do we need to verbalize our chuva? Why is it so important that we verbalize things? Why can't this be an internal process? Why not let this be this is between me and God. Hashem knows my thoughts. We've talked about this a little bit when it came to to davining in general but specifically chuva. Hashem knows how I feel. Hashem knows how bad I feel. Hashem knows that I that I that I've gone through all the other stages of grief. Why is it so important that I verbalize this in such an in such an explicit way? Any suggestions? >> Okay. So, we're So, you're saying we're follow we're following God's lead in that God just doesn't doesn't just think certain things, but there's action that's done or certain verbalization. Excellent. Okay. What else? >> I think when you say something out loud, even if it's quietly when you're done, you can hear what you're saying. It's more meaningful than >> becomes much more concrete. >> Excellent. Excellent. >> Right. Exactly. I think that's that's the simple understanding. Yes. >> Ticket and the guy end up not getting us. We were to leave yet and he said, "I want you to say I am sorry a hundred times." It's a policeman. People want to hear the words. Hashem wants to hear it. >> Hashem wants to hear it. And I want to say, why does Hashem want to hear it? Not for him. >> For us, >> for us. Excellent. Okay. The verbalization of the sin makes it more concrete. When you turn and you say, "I did this and I did this and I'm sorry for this and I feel bad that I did this." That concretizes what it is. It concretizes how we feel about it and it makes it makes it much more real. That we won't see it inside. That's what mentions in source number nine. or the office. >> Excellent question. The question she's asking is when it comes to the four stages of of of chuva, what comes first? Usually voy comes towards the end at least in the Rambam it does. But it's but it's an interesting question. >> I think it depend I think I I think I think that's a personal thing. I don't I don't think there's a set process of it. I think the verbalization needs to at least according to the ra we saw earlier the verbalization needs to include all the other stages. So it's natural for it to be towards the end because you're verbalizing not just that you feel bad and what you did but you're also verbalizing that you're not going to do it again. So you should only verbalize that if you feel it. So it has to at least the simple understanding >> doing the verbalization that you're not doing. >> That's a good question. We don't verbalize that ourselves in in in our classic in our classic voy but at least in the voy that was done for the that was for the for most mitzvote there there is a there was a verbalization at least according to the ramba but we don't have that in our field. It's a good point. It's a good point. Okay. And if you look here at source number 10 or by Sax gives gives another suggestion as to why it is so important that we verbalize uh our sins. A guilt culture says C says Saxs is a culture of responsibility. We do not blame anyone else for the wrong we do. It is always tempting to blame others. It wasn't me. It was my parents, my upbringing, my friends, my genes. Right? There's always going to be something. Sorry, I'm just I'm losing my page. Right. my social class, the media, the system, them. That was what, as you pointed out, that was what the humans did in the Garden of Eden. When challenged by God for eating the forbidden fruit, man blamed the woman. The woman blamed the serpent. The serpent was was paradise lost. The result was paradise lost. Blaming others for our failings is as old as humanity. But it is disastrous. It means that we define ourselves as victims. Right? A culture of victimhood wins the compassion of others, but at too high a cost. It incubates feelings of resentment, humiliation, grievance, and grudge. At le it it leaves people, sorry, to rage, there's a typo there, to rage against the world instead of taking steps to mend it. Jews have suffered much, but yum kipper prevents us from ever defining ourselves as victims. As we confess our sins, we blame no one but ourselves. That is demanding psychologically and spiritually. Yet is the price we must pay for freedom. It's not easy to go through a process of ashamti bagi or ashamnu baganu gazalu but it's important because it reminds us of our own personal responsibility. In source number 11 I brought you a similar source. This is from Rabbi Don Perez the uh the head of world misrai u who had written this and again someone who we we continue to den that uh that the body of his son his son unfortunately was killed on October 7th and his body was taken captive and is still captive in Gaza. and that his body should be returned. His son Danielle should be returned soon. Uh so Ra Perez um came out with a with a very very powerful booklet last year around the time of Yimn. If you haven't seen it, I haven't seen it around now, but if you get it online, it's really excellent. And he discusses this this idea as well. Source number 11. One of the most foundational ideas in all of Judaism is that of personal responsibility. We have great responsibility for the direction that our lives take. Yes, not everything is in our power and many things are beyond our control. Life is indeed vulnerable and at times precarious. At the s same time though there is so much within the ambit of our free choice. So much so that the Rambam mentions the principle of free choice at the heart of his laws of repentance. We seem to be exceptional at pointing fingers at others and not as comfortable to take respon personal responsibility. We all know that the void confession is that we found our own heart as a physical sign of taking personal responsibility and an expression of heartfelt remorse and regret. Our sages through the power of confession place the responsibility first and foremost on ourselves. We shouldn't be pounding other people's chests, blaming, externalizing and criticizing others. Rather, we ought to be banging our own chest, looking inward, owning our part and taking personal responsibility to do better. It requires great humility to own our part. The essence of the days of Chuv in general and Yum Kipper in particular is the principle of absolute personal responsibility. During and in the days of leading up to the days of that is what we do. The pinnacle of course is yum kiper. We spend major time and energy on confessing our misgivings. In order for repentance to take place there has to first and foremost be a deep internal look at oneself in admission of guilt, an expression of remorse and a desire to do things differently in the future. So again and this gets to we're the ones who have sinned. We have done this. It's a recognition that we've done something wrong and a willingness to take responsibility. This reminds me of and this we won't see this inside but it really is the the key message that comes out of of a relatively well-known thera is regarding the story of rebelaria I'll just say it outside was a um was someone who basically sinned all the sins that were possible. He traveled the world and slept with every prostitute says says the Gomorrah that existed in the world. at some point at one point without getting into all of the details. He was in the middle of of of being with one of the prostitutes and he had a certain recognition and and I think the prostitute herself said rebel has no hope to return to a bar and as a result went on a mission to achieve a level of to to go through the process of chuva. And the Gomorrah describes how first he went to the mountains and he said to the mountains, "Please ask for forgiveness." And they said, "We have our own issues. We" And then he went to the Shay and he went to the heavens and he said to the heavens, "Please ask Hashem to forgive me." And they said, "We have our own issues to worry about." And at the end ultimately the the garra ends with saying the most the most important words which is the very very end of source number 12. Look at the underlined part says comes what conclusion does come to? Amar had tal this is only nothing it is dependent only upon me I can't ask anybody else to achieve kapar for me I can't have somebody else go through the process of chuva for me it's all me I have to take accountability I have to take responsibility for what I have done and I have to go through this process of repairing my relationship with the describes he placed his head between his knees he cried criedish until his soul left him. And the gumar describes that he was able to achieve a level of going to haba. And so the key is the same idea is probably the most important thing for us to remember when we go into yumipur. This is dependent upon us. It is up to us to go through that process of chuva and and and kapar. What I wanted to do now is just highlight a couple of other themes. get to some of the we're not going to unfortunately get to all of it, but there are a number of themes within the text itself because what we spent time doing today was really just gaining a better understanding of what we're trying to do when we go through this process of of chuva specifically focusing on the vidoy. But there are a number of parts to the vidy that are very very fascinating. Number one, as many of us are familiar with the vidoy often in both we have there's something called the vidoy katar and something called the vidi ar voyqatar means the short version of the vidoy and that's the what's we know what we call where we basically it's a shorter type of voy and then there is the longer the voy which is the where we basically go through a much longer process of of of of discussing our sins is a focus more on the personality whereas al is more a focus on the sins. Look at source number 13 of Salvik in the arts group discusses the difference between the short and the long and why we have to focus on both. Source number 13 the zor teaches that man is comprised of three basic components nephesh ru and is the nephesh component contains his biological and instinctive life forces. It is the emotional component of all creatures. The short vidi represents the chuva of the nephesh expressing an initial response of shock, failure, and despondency in the wake of sin. Meaning a person turns to hashem and just says, "I'm sorry." Like, "I a new I'm I'm this, I'm that, I've as opposed to I did this. I did that." It's more of a of a description of an overall sense of who I am as opposed to specific actions. This vidi as salvation continues in paragraph 2 does not detail specific sins. Rather it denotes unmititigated condemnation. We are guilty, corrupt, lost, worthless, debased. This veto also contains no petition for forgiveness, pardon or divine clemency. Man must unequivocally admit that he is an right that long we say we do ask for forgiveness. We just say this is who we are and we're and we're almost like approaching God. We don't even feel we can ask for forgiveness because we feel so ashamed at who we are. This video also contains no petition for forgiveness pardon or divine clemency. Man must unequivocally admit that he is inexcusably guilty. He must completely surrender to the Almighty. Man proclaims himself to be a sinner, a rebel and a traitor. After such self- condemnation, we do not have the temerity to ask for forgiveness. In the long vidoy, we detail the various sins committed by a person. Here we condemn the actions, not as in the previous vuy the personality. We do not impugn the sinner's persona. This time while acknowledging his misdeeds, the individual nevertheless maintains his dignity. The vidoy is a well- formulated con confession clearly connecting to the overall chva process as it comprises sin recognition, resolution not to sin further and remorse. The inarticulate reaction to sin represented by the short vidoy yields here to the contemplative carefully considered long voy. and say we specifically are doing different types of vidoy in order to capture different emotions. There are sometimes we come to and we feel like we're at a loss. I'm just this is I don't even know what to do. I don't know I don't even know where to begin. This encapsulates who I am. That's the short vid theanu. And then there are moments where we say I'm really sorry that I did that. I'm really sorry that I did that. And that's the that's the where we specify the specific. I will add that is totally appropriate for each person to add their own personal al that would be wouldn't be at the ashamnu at the short vid the place for you to add your own personal confession or any kind of sins or remorse or verbalization would be at the al when you're going through those at the end of the add in any personal things the reason why it goes from al if to tough it's not just meant to be like a nice little poem why do we why why does it go from olive to tough it's to show that our sins and who we have become have encapsulated the entire entire the entire alphabet, the entire the entire language, the entire Jewish language. Everything we've done has encapsulated the entire language. And that's why we we do alough there's so much more to talk about, but I want to just I want to I want to just discuss two points that were raised here. One was why is it in the in the plural? Why is it in the plural? Um, and there's a number of different interpretations, but I think I think the the most I think poignant interpretation is a recognition that even when we're discussing, I'll say it this way. Osvich has a beautiful idea where he suggests that the two vidtos that we do at each we say it once in our personal and one we say it in the together with the Rosalvich suggests that the one we're saying in our personal is meant to be for our personal sins. It's meant to be for our personal when we say it as part of the as part of we're saying it as part of the collective. It's meant to be a different type modeled after the Coen Gad's confession that he would do on an Yom Kipur. But nevertheless, when we do it as part of when we say it in the plural, we're also not just asking for ourselves, but we're also asking for everybody else. And I think when we recognize that our load shouldn't just be for ourselves, but should be for all of Amish. It takes on a different type of experience. It's a different type of experience. Of course, we should be thinking about our own sins as well, but we all we're doing it within the context of a of a larger community. uh and one one one other point that I'll say >> that the beginning is personal and then part is >> and the and the last the last thing I will say which is which I wanted to close with and this is important as well is we um we we had the question at the very beginning which is if voy is about confession and is about confessing our sins and everything we've done wrong then why in paratavo is there something called voyurim voy is the process when a person who was bringing the burim he would come to hashem and he would get up and he would say he would he would say I'm bringing to be Kareim. Here I am. I've done what you've asked me to do. Please, Hashem, bless Am Israel. And both Rasvich and Rafuk in separate ways in different in different contexts asked the same question. They say, "What does this have to do with vidoy? Why? What? This isn't confession. >> That's an interesting okay although although although we don't talk about the spies, we we talk about mit. The sukim we mention are not connected to the spies. It's it's the process of mit says and in both in different context they say voy we often assume and associate voy with just bad things. What is voy? Voy is an honest accounting of where we are at in our relationship with it and it could be bad. We focus and we've been focusing in the shure on the all the things we've done bad. But it is entirely appropriate and encouraged over the course of yum kipur for you not just to be thinking about all those things I've done wrong but to also be turn and saying this is where I think I've done well please help me continue please help me improve upon it. Chuva is not and voy specifically is not simply meant to be an act of listing of your sins. Chuva is an honest accounting of where and vidoy an honest accounting of where and therefore it's most appropriate even for bikurin because bikurin the person is coming and saying this is what I've done he's saying these are the things that I've done is not simply meant to be a confession of all the things that I've done wrong it can also be an opportunity for me to turn to and say this is where I think I've done wrong please forgive me this is where I think I've done okay this is where I think I've done well please help me to continue to do that, maybe improve upon upon those areas. That is the essence of Chuv. And I just brought for you the very end based off of that idea. And this wasn't this isn't this isn't a text from Rafuk, but there is a a a text from somebody by the name of Yammen Holtzburg. He's a RV uh in Erit Israel, which he calls it the Vidya Mashim. The Vidya Mashim is is is a a second type of vidi. And this is a Voy that doesn't talk about all the things we've done wrong. It talks about all the things that maybe we've done right. Look at the last source. gamalu darni all the things that maybe we've done right now I'm not saying you should use this text you could use any text you want but it is important that when we come to we don't simply focus on all that we've done wrong and repairing that relationship but we also talk about and have a conversation with about all the things that we've done right okay hopefully this gave us a lot to think about um this coming wishing everybody everybody and a jantiff and uh looking forward to seeing everybody after after the khagim.