Given the wacky scheduling of the High Holy Days this year, Selichot falls on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. That probably means attendance will be even lower than usual, and they are usually pretty low. Perhaps because the numbers are small, the tradition in the Twin Cities is for many congregations—Reform and Conservative—to come […]
Rabbi Zalman was asked whether we should forgive the alleged NE Minneapolis Nazi. This is what he said.
How do I stand before God on the High Holy Days and proclaim that I forgive all those who have trespassed against me when something has been taken from me that can never be replaced?
How do I stand before God on the High Holy Days and proclaim that I forgive all those who have trespassed against me when something has been taken from me that can never be replaced?
One of the skills of a well-lived life is to be able to recognize and right the wrongs we have created through our actions. The Days of Awe present us an opportunity.
Between now and the last shofar blow of the holiday of Yom Kippur, Jews are supposed to sit down, flip out their cell phones or little black books to call, write, or otherwise contact those they have wronged to ask forgiveness. These days are officially called the “Ten Days of Penitence.”
The operative word is BEFORE Yom Kippur. On the “Day of Atonement,” we ask God for forgiveness, to wipe our slate clean for the New Jewish Year. Our sages have said—and this 21st century yenta heartily agrees—that it’s crucial to ask forgiveness from friends, associates and loved ones we’ve wronged, before we can ask for divine leniency.
