RHR Vidui 5775
The vidui (recounting of our sins) is not just a collection of words that we automatically repeat on Yom Kippur. They are burning words, intended to make us feel uncomfortable because they speak painful truths about lives and our society that we must confront if we are to truly engage in the kheshbon nefesh (soul searching) that is a primary task during this season. Most of us simply can't do it for most of the year. A vidui focused on Israel is even more difficult for us. Aware as we are of those who wish Israel harm, we don't even want to admit to ourselves that there are areas where Israel needs to change. But, sometimes the power of the High Holy Days allows us to do what we don't manage to do at other times. The RHR vidui attempts to channel our hearts as the traditional vidui was meant to do by helping us to engage in khesbon nefesh. This honest hard look at our society is actually the opposite of delegitimization. It is a deep affirmation of our belief that we and our society are essentially good. If we do the necessary hard work, we have the ability to return to our truest and highest selves.
The vidui may not feel like prayer because, like the traditional vidui, it is concrete and asks us to take individual responsibility for the collective sins of our society. For this reason it is written in the plural. In many cases the first line is from the traditional vidui, and there are notes after the vidui explaining which traditional sources many of the concepts are taken from.
If some of the lines do not feel to you like they apply to Israeli society, please think twice. If you still don't think something applies, we hope that our vidui will challenge you to create your own. It would never be possible to be comprehensive, so please feel free to download the word version of our viduit, then cut and paste and add and subtract to create your own personal/societal viduit. If this vidui seems simply too long and intimidating, choose a few verses, and concentrate on them. The point is to challenge you to engage in khesbon nefesh, not to silence or intimidate.
Just as the High Priest in ancient times had to recite his own vidui before saying a vidui for others, we need to look at our own sins before we recount the sins of others. For some the sin they must confess is always assuming the worst about Israel, while others must confess defending Israel, no matter what. When we engage in true kheshbon nefesh (soul searching) about Israel on Yom Kippur, we can then celebrate Israel's assif rukhani (spiritual harvest – what is good and positive about Israel) on Sukkot. The RHR vidui and assif are in that sense two sides of the same coin.
Whatever we must personally confess to, the vidui is intended for those who in some way identify with Israel. The point of the vidui is not to point your finger at somebody else, but to take a critical look at yourself and the society/societies you identify with. If you don't identify with Israeli society, you might want to construct a similar vidui looking at the societies and communities of which you are a part, and share responsibility for.
For rabbis, cantors, prayer leaders and facilitators who wish to use this vidui in the synagogue or other settings, you can click here to download a word version that can be handed out, abridged, etc. If you are on our regular mail mailing list, you should also have received a version abridged to two sides. Like the traditional vidui , the RHR vidui can also be read responsively.
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For the sin we have sinned against You through harsh judgement,
Because we lacked faith in You, in ourselves, and in our society.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through offensive talk,
Because we scorned those whose concept of justice is different than ours.
For the sin we have sinned against You, saying, "If I am not for myself who will be for me,"
Because we cared only for our own, andjustifiedIsrael whether right or wrong.
And for the sin we have sinned against You, saying, "If I am only for myself, who am I,"
Because we cared only about the Other, and blamed Israel for everything.
And for the sin we have sinned against You, ignoring, "If not now, when,"
Because we silenced the suffering with "It will take time” and “You will have to wait."
For the sin we have sinned against You intentionally or unintentionally,
Because we confused the current reality with the ideal reality.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through lowered expectations,
Because we believed the current reality is “good enough.”
For the sin we have sinned against You through accepting current reality,
Because we believedtikun olam (repairing the world) is beyond us, “In the heavens.”
And for the sin we have sinned against you, whether forced or willfully,
Because we asserted "I can't," when we meant, "I don't want to."
For the sin we have sinned against You through throwing off the yoke,
Because we gave up and said, "Let others repair the world."
And for the sin we have sinned against You through short sightedness,
Because we neglected education and long-term solutions.
For the sin we have sinned against You through lip-service,
Because we moralized without translating words into action.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through faint heartedness,
Because we stoodconfused, without faith that light dispels darkness.
For the sin we have sinned against You through scoffing,
Because we mocked those who yet believe they can bring about a better world.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through knowingly deceiving ourselves,
Because we said,"Everything will be fine," in order to justify inaction.
For the sin we sinned against you through saying, "We didn't know"
But, we knew.
And, for the sin we sinned against You unknowingly,
Because we didn't want to know.
For all these and more, God of forgiveness, we ask forgiveness, pardon, and atonement.
For the sin we have sinned against You through silencing our conscience,
Because we told ourselves that the death of over 2,000 Gazans was entirely Hamas' fault.
And for the sin we have sinned against you, openly or in secret,
Because we did not inquire about actions of our citizens, soldiers and those who sent them.
For the sin we have sinned against you through causeless hatred,
Because we said those concerned about Palestinians shoot our soldiers in the back.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through causeless hatred,
Because we said anybody concerned about our security is a murderer of children.
For the sin we have sinned against You through justification,
Because we insisted that all is permissible in the name of defense.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through rushing to do wrongly,
Because we forsook non-violent solutions in favor of force.
For the sin we have sinned against you through halting negotiations and hope,
Did we do enough to prevent bloodshed?
And for the sin we have sinned against You through claiming we were forced to do what we wished for,
Because we used the war's expenses to justify withholding from Israel's poor.
For all these and more, God of forgiveness, we ask forgiveness, pardon, and atonement.
For the sin we have sinned against You through not taking action (shev v'al ta'aseh),
Because we sat in our comfortable homes, as others were evicted from theirs.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through the abuse of power,
Because we permitted the state to use its power against the poor and helpless.
For the sin we have sinned against You through quieting our conscience,
Because we gave charity rather than dealt with the roots of poverty.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through deception,
Because we created a committee on poverty without intent to listen to it.
For the sin we have sinned against You through lashon ha'ra (slander),
Because we claimed that the unemployed or those in need of public housing are "faking it.”
And for the sin we have sinned against You through haughtiness,
Because we trampled the dignity of those with arms outstretched in need.
For the sin we have sinned against You through raising barriers,
Because unfair eligibility requirements deny the needy homes.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through leaving buildings empty,
Because others lack homes.
For the sin we have sinned against You through usurious interest,
Because we trapped others in endless debt.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through casting aside the weak,
Because we neglected healthcare and denied medicines.
For the sin we have sinned against You, saying, "What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine,"
Because we justified the unfair distribution of resources.
And for the sin we have sinned against You, saying "What's mine is mine, what's yours is yours,"
Because we refrained from a just distribution of resources.
For the sin we have sinned against You through indulging in food and drink,
As the social gap increases.
And for the sin which we have sinned against You through abandoning your Torah,
Because we are no longer a society responsible for one another.
For the sin which we have sinned against You through hardening our hearts,
To poverty, hunger and despair.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through mouthing words,
As if we truly cared about the weakest and poorest among us.
For all these and more, God of forgiveness, we ask forgiveness, pardon, and atonement.
For the sin we have sinned against You through the desecration of Your Name,
Because we fulfilled the interpersonal commandments only towards Jews.
And for the sin which we have sinned against You through insolence,
Because we claimed that only Jews have rights to the Land.
For the sin we have sinned against You through thoughtlessness,
Because we believed and repeated, “The Bedouin are taking over the Negev...”
And for the sin we have sinned against You through silencing our conscience,
Because we told ourselves that transferring, destroying and dispossessing is "for the good of the Bedouin."
For the sin we have sinned against You through denial and falsehood,
Because we do not recognize land ownership previously acknowledged by the early Zionists.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through selfish envy,
Because we argued that 5.4% of the Negev is too much for the Bedouin.
For the sin we have sinned against You through abuse of power,
Because wedemolished Bedouin homes, took lands and destroyed crops.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through running to do evil,
Because we hurried to grab land without a court ruling.
For the sin we have sinned against You through settling accounts,
Because we acted mercilessly to wipe out El-Araqib.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through facts on the ground,
Because we planned Jewish "Khiran" where "Um El Khiran" now stands.
For the sin we have sinned against You through drunken vision,
Because we did not see Israeli Arabs as equal partners.
And for the sin we have sinned against You, consciously or unconsciously,
Because we denied equal opportunity to every citizen.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through defiling our lips
with hate speech.
For all these and more, God of forgiveness, we ask forgiveness, pardon, and atonement.
For the sin we have sinned against You through idolatry,
Because we violated human rights to reclaim the land of Israel.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through the evil inclination,
Because we allowed our desire for the Land to overcome the pursuit of peace.
For the sin we have sinned against you through double standards,
Because we created separate laws for Jews and Palestinians.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through ruling high handedly,
Because Palestinians are not represented in courts and institutions which determine their fates.
For the sin we have sinned against You through plotting against our Palestinian neighbors,
Because we prevented them from building legally through unfair zoning plans..
And for the sin we have sinned against You through closing our ears,
Because we ignored the wails of children as we demolished their "illegal" homes.
For the sin we have sinned against You, knowingly or unknowingly,
Because we permitted our governments to steal, demolish, uproot, and humiliate.
And for the sin we have sinned against you through weakness,
Because we failed to prevent "Price Tag" attacks.
For the sin we have sinned against You through entrapment,
Because we arrested and abused children, without evidence, to extract confessions.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through inflaming hatred,
Because we oppressed and because we humiliated.
For the sin we have sinned against You through breach of trust,
Because we backtracked on allowing Palestinians to defend their lands.
And for the sin we have sinned against You by disrespecting parents, teachers and children,
Because we did not build needed classrooms in East Jerusalem.
For the sin we have sinned against You because we were seduced and blinded,
Driven to covet homes not our own by the magic of Jerusalem.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through distorted vision,
We allowed our love of the Land to overpower honoring Your Image.
For all these and more, God of forgiveness, we ask forgiveness, pardon, and atonement.
For the sin we have sinned against You through closing our borders,
To refugees and asylum seekers fleeing for their lives.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through abuse of power,
Because we jailed them deep in the desert.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through defiling our lips,
Because we labeled all asylum seekers “infiltrators” without checking who is truly a refugee.
For the sin we have sinned against you through our words,
Because we incited and sowed fear.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through causing needless hatred,
Because we concentrated asylum seekers in already troubled South Tel Aviv.
For the sin we have sinned against You through justifying,
Because we took no responsibility for what became of asylum seekers after we deported them “voluntarily.”
And for the sin we have sinned against You through duplicitous denial of responsibility,
Because we denied them work permits and support, then accused them of high crime rates.
For the sin we have sinned against You through forgetting,
The many times borders were closed for us.
And for the sin we have sinned against You for forgetting,
That we were once strangers in the land of Egypt.
For all these and more, God of forgiveness, we ask forgiveness, pardon, and atonement.
For the sin we have sinned against You through the desecration of your name,
Because we abandoned the "agunot" (women not granted a Jewish divorce) and ignored the solutions that exist in the Halacha.
And for the sin we have sinned against You through education,
Because we taught our children stereotypes and prejudice.
For the sin we have sinned against You through scoffing,
Because we denigrated new immigrants and failed to honor their traditions.
And for sin we have sinned against You through spiritual blindness,
Because we did not see You in all the “others” who live among us.
For the sin we have sinned against You through casting off the yoke,
Because we exploited our majority to "democratically" trample the minority.
And for the sin which we have sinned against You through thinking to ourselves and whispering in closed rooms,
That which we should have cried aloud, raising our voices as a shofar.
For all these and more, God of forgiveness, we ask forgiveness, pardon, and atonement.
May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts bring us to true teshuva, and lead us forward to acts of righteousness, so that we make our world a place in which the Shekhina can dwell.
May it be Your Will that we merit to give expression to Your Image within us in the coming year through love and generosity.