Yom Kippur

The Path of Repentance
From: The Jewish Experience of Time: Philosophical Dimensions of the Jewish Holy Days
By Eliezer Schweid

The common ideational basis of atonement and repentance is reflected in confession. Confession is a central theme in both the ritual of atonement and in repentance, stressing the primary moral significance of atonement. In order to be cleansed of sin, one must acknowledge that they have sinned. Such a statement might appear simplistic and superfluous - could a human being knowingly commit an act that is contrary to what they have been commanded to do without "acknowledging that they have sinned"? It is important to note that the reference here is not to acts committed in error such as an unknown prohibition or something meant to lead to a different result. The purview here is those cases that were committed deliberately, through conscious choice. Nevertheless, "recognizing that one has sinned" is a highly significant step, but can not be overcome and the individual cleansed until this step is actually taken. If one considers the psychological state of the sinner a highly complex mechanism of concealment can be seen to be employed. Human beings conceal their acts from the eyes of others and, in so doing represses it or represses acknowledgement of it from their own consciousness. The sinner chooses not to see, or chooses to rationalize the act in a manner that relieves the sinner of full responsibility of what he or she has done: circumstances led them to do it, or it was the fault of others, as well as other ways in which the issue of the sinner's guilt can be skirted. Even if the sinner is aware of their connection to the forbidden act, even if they know that the act is indeed forbidden, it does not mean that they have "recognized that they have sinned".

Such recognition comes only when complete responsibility is accepted by the sinner for their act, without concealment, without hiding, and without excuses. This is the essence of confession. The sinner confesses their sins aloud in the presence of others. Doing this, the sinner establishes their own responsibility as an objective fact that can not be evaded, even by themselves. This is the explanation of the statement made by Maimonides, in the halakhic definition quoted above: "…and he must confess aloud and speak aloud these things that he has resolved in his heart." In other words, until the words have emerged from the hiding place in the soul of the sinner and have been stated before others, they are not a total and binding fact for the sinner themselves. The sinners can still hide from their own responsibility. However, if the sinner does not recognize that they have sinned and takes responsibility, a possibility is opened that was not present until now. Only now, when the sinner no longer hides their sins, can they be freed from it. Those who hide their sin can never be freed from the double guilt they bear- the guilt of the sin itself and the guilt of it's concealment. In this respect, confession is indeed a decisive step.

However, confession may lead to two distinct options- the path of atonement and the path of repentance. The path of atonement involves a ritual act of physical cleansing, as if the individual has washed their soul of it's abomination as he washes his body in water; the water takes the filth and carries it away. The person who confesses by placing his hands on the head of a sacrificial animal eliminates his sins as if they were foreign objects that had adhered to him from within himself. The priest then sprinkles the blood of the sacrifice on the altar and, in the presence of sanctity, cleanses the sinner of the impurity that has been eliminated along with his sin. The description of these acts in the chapter of the Priestly code appears to be mechanistic and external, with no place for the soul itself. Can this really be the case? Can a person confess and be cleansed without feeling guilt and remorse and a desire to be purified? It is difficult to see sacrifice as anything other than a symbolic act, which, for its completion, requires a psychological process of involvement on the part of the sinner.

The fact remains, however, that in the legal description a psychological process is neither mentioned nor required, and that this act is perceived as part of the ongoing routine of life. The offering of the sacrifice and the atonement are not seen as a form of change, or as an effort to achieve change in an individual's life. Humans sin and atone, sin and atones, accepting as a fact of life that sin is part of ordinary reality and can not be changed. The sinner's emotional participation in the act of atonement is therefore minimal, confined to recognition of the obligation to do something in order to atone for sin. It is this fact that appears to provoke the criticism of the prophets. They are not opposed to the ritual itself; they are furious at a ritualistic act with a mechanical perception of sin as part of a taken-for-granted routine of individual and communal life.

The path of repentance goes in a different direction. Repentance, as understood by the prophets, is an internal, psychological process that aims to achieve comprehensive change in human behavior and thus change the personality that develops through an individual's acts. While ritual atonement is a permanent and cyclical base in the routine of life, and effectively accepts sin, repentance is an attempt to take a different path-the path of good deeds and purity, free from sin. Can humankind free themselves completely from the natural tendency to sin? Is there in the world " a just man who will do only good and will not sin"? The Hebrew prophets and Sages knew full well what in the temporal life there is no complete expurgation of the tendency to sin. So, repentance itself, as the ongoing effort to proceed along the path of good deeds and purity, was seen as the alternate route. Repentance, as distinct from atonement, was seen as a single act within a complex of several acts. Repentance is defined as an entire way of life, and the repentance is present in every segment of the path. An act of atonement is always an ongoing psychological process rather than a single event.

Once again the reference to Maimonides's summary of the Sages' opinion. Repentance begins with confession, as the sinner accepts responsibility for their sin; it continues with an expression of remorse: the sinner rejects what they have done and actually changes their will. The sinner no longer wants what was desired when they sinned. The sinner then tests the sincerity of their remorse through a decision not to sin any more. The sinner now faces the future with a psychological intention that is different from it was at the time when they sinned. The contrast with the act of atonement is shown once more: in atonement, the human concentrates on the atoning act itself- on the present; in repentance, humans face the future. The sinner recognizes that the future is the test. As Maimonides concludes in his halakhic language, "What is complete repentance? It occurs when a person has the opportunity to commit a transgression that they committed in the past and determines not to do so because of their repentance. Not because of fear and not because of inability.

If an individual is indeed ready to stand the test, then a genuine change has taken place in their behavior and in themselves. There is an essential difference between ritual atonement and repentance-the manner in which the sinner is freed from his sin. Atonement removes the infection of the soul caused by sin, whereas repentance is a psychological immunization process by which the sinner distances themselves from sin. Through repentance, the sinner becomes a new person. If their innermost will is changed, they are no longer the same person they were when they sinned. Maimonides: "It is characteristic of repentance that the person who repents always cries out before the Lord in supplication, and does good deeds according to his ability, and distances himself completely from the matter in which he sinned, changing his name, as if to say 'I am someone else, I am not the person who committed that act' changing all his acts to the path which is good and just" (Chap. 2, IV). Thus, the trial is in choosing the path that consistently seeks a tireless effort toward a wholeness of life, of good deeds, and of purity. Ad it emerged in the tradition of the Sages, Yom Kippur is the day on which the community and all its individuals place themselves of the path of repentance. It is not an isolated event, but rather the beginning of a trajectory.