Forgive me

Autumn is a busy time for the Jews holiday-wise. Just as you've managed to put away the apples and honey of Rosh Hashana, it is time to concentrate in Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is often considered the most important holiday in Judaism, even for those who are not that religious. Yom Kippur lasts only for 25 hours, and it is about atonement: confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness.

I kind of like the idea of Yom Kippur. It could be called the day of the year when you come clean, both spiritually and literally.You keep your body clean by fasting for the duration of Yom Kippur, it is a tradition to wear white (= the color of purity), and you atone your sins between yourself and G-d. What is noteworthy is that sins committed against another person are not cleared ”automatically”: this you need to take separately with the person in question, before Yom Kippur.

(www.messiahmandate.org)

Comparing to Lutheranism, the religious context I pretty much have grown up in, I can't recall any particular time or day when forgiveness particularly is asked for. In fact, Lutheranism is based on the assumption and attitude built in every Lutheran that you are sinful and unclean no matter what you do. The cardinal sin is within us and no matter what you try to do, it is up to G-d's forgiveness to see the good in us. This is actually quite a gloomy take on things. Every day of the year a Lutheran carries this sin, acknowledging the fact of impurity, imperfection and unworthiness. Mix that with the coldness and darkness of the North, and you've got a road paved to depression and suicide. Sounds much like Finland, actually!

In the Roman Catholic church, there is a custom of confessing your sins to a priest every now and then. You can do it anonymously in a booth, the priest listens to you and gives you the recipe for purging yourself from these sins. 10 times Ave Maria and so forth. And I probably don't have to point out all the money the Catholic church has made with this sin business over the years. Uh.

Therefore, I think the Jewish way is kind of a fair and reasonable way of looking at the imperfection that lies within all of us. Instead of feeling guilty of your faults every day with ”no way out” like Lutherans, or buying and bargaining yourself clean whenever you feel like it like the Catholics, there's a period each year in which you rightfully are allowed and even expected to purge yourself from sins and wrong-doings. It is timed right after the new Jewish year has started, making perfect sense to have a fresh start. And most importantly, the earthy wrong-doings you don't settle with G-d but with the people, showing you need to have the morals and guts not to leave it all up to G-d, but actually act on your own mistakes already in this world to get them right.