Yom ha'Kippurim 5778: Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim

This post reflects my take on ideas I heard from Rabbi EF and Rabbi YT (via his chavrusa, DR). I wrote it in haste this Erev Yom ha'Kippurim, and didn't have time to edit it or condense it as much as I'd have liked. I hope you still find it to be beneficial!

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Sonmi 451, from Cloud Atlas

Yom ha'Kippurim 5778: Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim

Mitzvas Vidui vs. Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim

The Rambam lists vidui (confession) as one of the 613 mitzvos. He begins Hilchos Teshuvah Chapter 1 by defining this mitzvah:

All of the commandments in the Torah, whether a positive commandment or a negative commandment, if a person violates one of them, whether intentionally or unintentionally – when he does teshuvah and returns from his sin, he is obligated to confess before God (blessed is He), as it is stated: “When a man or a woman does any of the sins of man … they shall confess their sin which they did” (Bamidbar 5:6-7) – this refers to a verbal vidui, and this vidui is a positive mitzvah. 

How does one do vidui? He should say: “I beseech you, Hashem: I have erred, I have corrupted, and I have rebelled before You, and I have done such-and-such. Behold! I have regretted and been ashamed of my actions, and I will never return to this thing.” This is the essence of vidui, but the more a person engages in vidui and elaborates on these matters – the more praiseworthy.

We will refer to this as "Mitzvas Vidui."

On Yom ha'Kippurim we recite a lengthy version of vidui. The core of this vidui is a list of "al cheit" ("for the sin of") statements, in which we confess to a litany of sins corresponding to the letters of the Aleph-Beis. We will refer to this as "Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim."

The Rambam codifies our obligation in Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim in the context of his presentation in Hilchos Teshuvah Chapter 2:6-8:

Even though teshuvah and crying out [in prayer] are always appropriate, they are even more appropriate during the ten days between Rosh ha’Shanah and Yom ha’Kippurim, and [they are] immediately accepted, as it is stated: “Seek Hashem when He is to be found; call out to Him when He is close” (Yeshayahu 55:6). To what does this apply? To an individual – but for a community, any time they do teshuvah and cry out [in prayer] with a whole heart, they are answered, as it is stated: “[Which nation has a god] like Hashem, our God, [Who answers us] whenever we call out to Him” (Devarim 4:7). 

Yom ha’Kippurim is a time of teshuvah for everyone, for the individual and the community, and it is the last [opportunity in the year] for forgiveness and pardon for Israel. Therefore, everyone is obligated to do teshuvah and vidui on Yom ha’Kippurim. The mitzvah of Vidui Yom ha’Kippurim begins on the eve of the day [of Yom ha’Kippurim] before one eats – maybe he’ll choke on his meal before he does vidui. And even though he did vidui before eating, he must do vidui again on Yom ha’Kippurim night, and again at Shacharis, and at Mussaf, and at Minchah, and at Neilah. Where should one do vidui? The individual [does vidui] after his tefilah, and the congregation leader [does vidui] in the middle of his tefilah in the fourth blessing. 

The vidui that all of Israel is accustomed to do, “but indeed we have sinned etc.” – this is the essence of vidui. The transgressions on which a person did vidui this Yom ha’Kippurim, he must go back and do vidui on them again next Yom ha’Kippurim [and the next, and the next], even though he remains in his teshuvah, as it is stated: “For I know my offense, and my sin is before me always” (Tehilim 51:5).

One might assume that the Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim of Chapter 2 is merely a special case of Mitzvas Vidui of Chapter 1. However, there are a number of differences between the two viduim which make this assumption untenable:

Difference #1: The obligation of Mitzvas Vidui is triggered upon completion of the teshuvah process, whereas the obligation of Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim emerges from the kedushas ha'Yom (Sanctity of the Day) of Yom ha'Kippurim itself. In other words, a person is only obligated in Mitzvas Vidui if he or she did teshuvah, whereas every person is obligated in Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim regardless of whether or not he or she engaged in teshuvah.

Difference #2: Mitzvas Vidui is only performed once, at the end of one's teshuvah, whereas Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim is performed six times each Yom ha'Kippurim, and annually every year thereafter - even if he or she remains steadfast in teshuvah.

Difference #3: The Rambam very clearly defines the "essence" of the Mitzvas Vidui formula in Chapter 1, but this differs drastically from the "essence" of Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim which he references in Chapter 2. The most notable difference is that in Mitzvas Vidui one must say, "and I will never return to this [sin] again," whereas no such statement is made in Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim.

Difference #4: Mitzvas Vidui is said in the first person singular ("I have erred, I have corrupted, I have rebelled ... I have done such and such ... I have regretted ... I will never return to this thing again") whereas Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim is said in first person plural ("But indeed, we have sinned ... we have become guilty, we have betrayed ... for the sin that we have sinned before You uncontrollably and willingly, and for the sun that we have sinned before You through hardness of the heart, etc.")

Difference #5: Mitzvas Vidui is only said for sins we have actually committed, whereas Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim is said even if we didn't do the sin for which we are confessing. For example, on Yom ha'Kippurim every person must confess, "For the sin we have sinned before You in business dealings" even if he or she has never engaged in any business dealings; every person must confess, "and for the sin we have sinned before You through sexual immorality" even if he or she has never engaged in transgressions of sexual immorality; even a blind man must confess, "for the sin we have sinned before You through prying eyes." 

Difference #6: It would seem that Mitzvas Vidui can only be performed by the repentant sinner himself, whereas Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim is said by both the repentant sinner and by a shliach (agent) of the community - whether it be the Kohen Gadol during the time when the Beis ha'Mikdash stood, or the prayer leader in today's shuls.

One thing is clear from these differences: Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim is not merely a particular instance of Mitzvas Vidui which has been allocated to the day of Yom ha'Kippurim; rather, it is a distinct type of vidui with its own unique character. The question is: What is Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim?

The Individual as a Product of the Community

In order to answer this question we will need to revisit a halacha stated earlier in the Mishneh Torah, in Hilchos Deos 6:1:

It is the nature of man to be drawn after the character traits and actions of his associates and friends, and to behave like the members of his society. Therefore, a person must befriend tzadikim (the righteous) and to sit with chachamim (the wise), so that he can learn from their actions; and he must distance himself from reshaim (the wicked), who walk in darkness, so that he does not learn from their actions. This is what Shlomo says: “One who walks with the wise will become wise, but one who befriends fools will be broken” (Mishlei 13:20), and [David] says: “Happy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, and has not stood on the path of sinners, and has not sat in a session of mockers” (Tehilim 1:1).

We tend to think of ourselves as individuals. The harsh reality is that most of us are not. We are products of our society. We believe what we believe based on the people we surround ourselves with. Our likes and dislikes stem from the value system of our society - the local society of our friends and family, the larger society of our community, the even larger society of our region, our ethnic group, our political group, our country, and more. We live within numerous, concentric, overlapping circles - "bubbles," as they are called these days - each with its own view of tov (good) and ra (evil), its own assumptions about reality, and its own set of veils.

True, there are individuals who truly live as individuals - but most of us are not on that level. Even those individuals would not be who they are without being shaped by their communities. I do not believe that an honest individual can to look at himself and truthfully say, "I would be who I am regardless of the community in which I live." I do not think that a person with even a small degree of self-knowledge could say about herself, "Had I been born, raised, and exposed to completely different community during my formative years, I would still hold the same beliefs, ideas, and values that I currently hold."

But since a community is nothing more than an aggregate of individuals, we must also recognize the flip side of this reality. Just as the value systems of our communities impact our decision-making, so too, our decision-making impacts the value systems of our communities. The individual and the community are interdependent, but due to its size and force, the community exerts a greater influence on the individual in most cases.

In order to express this point with more eloquence than I can presently muster, I am going to quote an excerpt from R' Yosef Dov ha'Levi Soloveitchik's book, Halakhic Man (which I have previously quoted the last time I brought up Hilchos Deos 6:1, in Parashas Korach: Lessons in Hashgachah). As you read, focus on the Rav's description of what he refers to as "species man." The Rav writes, with my emphasis underlined:

The gist of Maimonides' view [of Divine Providence] is that man occupies a unique position in the kingdom of existence and differs in his ontological nature from all other creatures. With reference to all other creatures, only the universal, not the particular, has a true, continuous existence; with respect to man, however, it is an everlasting principle that his individual existence also attains the heights of true, eternal being. Indeed, the primary mode of man's existence is the particular existence of the individual, who is both liable and responsible for his acts. Therefore, it is the individual who is worthy of divine providence and eternal life. Man, in one respect, is a mere random example of the biological species - species man - an image of the universal, a shadow of true existence. In another respect he is a man of God, possessor of an individual existence. The difference between a man who is a mere random example of the biological species and a man of God is that the former is characterized by passivity, the latter by activity and creation. The man who belongs solely to the realm of the universal is passive to an extreme - he creates nothing. The man who has a particular existence of his own is not merely a passive, receptive creature but acts and creates. Action and creation are the true distinguishing marks of authentic existence. 

However, this ontological privilege, which is the peculiar possession of the man who has a particular existence of his own, a privilege that distinguishes him from all other creatures and endows him with individual immortality, is dependent upon man himself. The choice is his. He may, like the individual of all the other species, exist in the realm of the images and shadows, or he may exist as an individual who is not part of the universal and who proves worthy of a fixed, established existence in the world of the "forms" and "intellects separate from matter" [Maimonides, Laws of the Foundations of the Torah 4:9]. Species man or man of God, this is the alternative which the the Almighty placed before man. If he proves worthy, then he becomes a man of God in all the splendor of his individual existence that cleaves to absolute infinity and the glorious "divine overflow." If he proves unworthy, then he ends up as one more random example of the biological species, a turbid and blurred image of universal existence ... 

Man, at times, exists solely by virtue of the species, by virtue of the fact that he was born a member of that species, and its general form is engraved upon him. He exists solely on account of his participation in the idea of the universal. He is just a member of the species "man," an image of the universal. He is just one more example of the species image in its ongoing morphological process (in the Aristotelian sense of the term). He himself, however, has never done anything that could serve to legitimate his existence as an individual. His soul, his spirit, his entire being, are all grounded in the realm of the universal. His roots lie deep in the soil of faceless mediocrity; his growth takes place solely within the public domain. He has no stature of his own, no original, individual, personal profile. He has never created anything, never brought into being anything new, never accomplished anything. He is receptive, passive, a spiritual parasite. He is wholly under the influence of other people and their views. Never has he sought to render an accounting, either of himself or of the world; never has he examined himself, his relationship to God and his fellow man. He lives unnoticed and he dies unmourned. Like a fleeting cloud, a shadow, he passes through life, and he is gone. He bequeaths nothing to future generations, but dies without leaving a trace of his having lived. Empty-handed he goes to the grave, bereft of mitzvah performances, good deeds, and meritorious acts, for while living he lacked any sense of historical responsibility and was totally wanting in any ethical passion. He was born involuntarily, and it is for this reason and this reason alone that he, involuntarily, lives out his life (a life which, paradoxically, he has "chosen!") until he dies involuntarily. This is man as the random example of the biological species. 

But there is another man, one who does not require the assistance of others, who does not need the support of the species to legitimate his existence. Such a man is no longer a prisoner of time but is his own master. He exists not by virtue of the species, but solely on account of his own individual worth. His life is replete with creation and renewal, cognition and profound understanding. He lives not on account of his having been born but for the sake of life itself and so that he may merit thereby the life in the world to come. He recognizes the destiny that is his, his obligation and task in life. He understands full well the dualism running through his being and that choice which has been entrusted to him. He knows that there are two paths before him and that whichever he shall choose, there must he go. He is not passive but active. His personality is not characterized by receptivity but by spontaneity. He does not simply abandon himself to the rule of the species but blazes his own individual trail. Moreover, he, as an individual, influences the many. His whole existence, like some enchanted stream, rushes ever onward to distant magical regions. He is dynamic, not static, does not remain at rest but moves forward in an ever-ascending climb. For, indeed, it is the living God for whom he pines and longs. This is the man of God. 

The fundamental of providence is here transformed into a concrete commandment, an obligation incumbent upon man. Man is obliged to broaden the scope and strengthen the intensity of the individual providence that watches over him. Everything is dependent on him; it is all in his hands. When a person creates himself, ceases to be a mere species man, and becomes a man of God, then he has fulfilled that commandment which is implicit in the principle of providence.

The Rav was speaking about the archetypal extremes. In reality, most of us fall somewhere in between - but in all likelihood, we are more towards the side of "species man," which is why the Rambam formulated his statement in Hilchos 6:1 as the rule, rather than the exception.

Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim Reexamined

With this concept of the relationship between the individual and the community in mind, we can now understand the unique character of the teshuvah and vidui of Yom ha'Kippurim. The Rambam gave us the key in his introduction to the mitzvah of Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim:

Yom ha’Kippurim is a time of teshuvah for everyone, for the individual and the community, and it is the last [opportunity in the year] for forgiveness and pardon for Israel. Therefore, everyone is obligated to do teshuvah and vidui on Yom ha’Kippurim. 

Every day is a day for individual teshuvah, but Yom ha'Kippurim is a day for communal teshuvah. This doesn't mean that Yom ha'Kippurim is a time for individuals to come together to do personal teshuvah simultaneously. Rather, Yom ha'Kippurim is when we are expected to broaden our egocentric perspective and face the fact that our identity as individuals is determined by our membership in the community. We reflect on our role as part of the fabric which constitutes our society, and with that recognition, we - the entire nation - engage in a truly communal teshuvah.

With this in mind, we can understand some of the differences between Mitzvas Vidui and Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim. First and foremost, this explains why Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim is stated in the plural. This day isn't about my sins and my flaws, but our sins and our flaws as a community. This also explains how Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim can be said by a shliach of the community. Indeed, we now see why it should be said by a shliach of the community.

This also explains how we can say vidui for sins which we have not personally committed. How? Because even though we may not have violated a particular halacha, we influence and are influenced by the value systems of our community which allow those transgressions to take place. For example:

I may not have engaged in a sin in business dealings, but where do such sins come from? From our society's overvaluation of money and material possessions; from our society's latent feeling that "it's not wrong if you don't get caught"; from our society's prioritization of my needs, my desires, and my rights over the needs, desires, and rights of my fellow. Can I honestly say that I do not partake of those corrupt values? Can I honestly say that I do not strengthen these values through my own actions, even if not by actually cheating in business dealings?

I may not have engaged in a sin of sexual immorality, but what is the source of such sins? From our society's elevation of sexual pleasure and fantasy as ends to be desired in and of themselves; from our societal failure to recognize the value of kedushah (transcendence of our animalistic nature), and our laxity in promoting behaviors which strengthen the value of kedushah in our communities; from our society regarding other human beings as tools and objects for our gratification rather than seeing them as fellow tzelem Elokim citizens with the same value as ourselves. Can I honestly say that I am not influenced by these perverted values? Can I honestly say that I do not actively promote these values in how I talk, speak, and think about sexual matters?

A blind man is incapable of the sin of "prying eyes," but what causes those who can see to commit such sins? Is it not because we regard our own privacy as sacrosanct but regard the privacy of our neighbor as merely an obstacle standing in the way of our entertainment? Is it not because we preoccupy ourselves with the dirty secrets of others in order to avoid facing our own inner pockets of shame and darkness? Is it not because we crave affirmation of our own superiority to the extent that we seek out evidence of this in the faults of our friends and neighbors? The blind man's eyes cannot pry, but his mind can - and in so doing, he is both a symptom and a cause of the illness of "prying eyes" in our society.

All of the other "al cheit" statements are to be understood in a similar manner. Some of these sins we have committed, and others we haven't, but we are all interwoven into the communal cloth that is stained by these sins. Therefore, the Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim serves as a universal tool for communal introspection on how we shape and are shaped in turn by the value systems of our communities.

This also explains why the Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim doesn't contain the statement, "I will not return to this sin." From a practical standpoint, such a statement would be absurd: not everyone can actually say this and mean it, and not everyone has actually committed each of these transgressions. But there is another reason we don't pledge to never return to the sin again: unlike Mitzvas Vidui, which can only be done after teshuvah, the Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim is designed to commence the teshuvah - starting on a communal level, and being propelled forward by individuals for the coming year. This is how the kaparah of Yom ha'Kippurim works (as I explained in What is Kaparah?).

The other differences between Mitzvas Vidui and Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim can be explained in a similar manner. Unfortunately, my Yom ha'Kippurim starts in two hours, and I need to finish this post.

Teshuvah-ripples Through Time

This understanding of the teshuvah and vidui of Yom ha'Kippurim brings to mind the words of  Sonmi 451, a character from Cloud Atlas. Sonmi gives a speech which concludes with the following declaration:

Our lives are not our own.

From womb to tomb

we are bound to others,

past and present,

and by each crime

and every kindness

we birth our future. 

The first line captures the central concept of Hilchos Deos 6:1, and the essence of Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim: "our lives are not our own," for we are products of our society. The "I" is inextricably bound with the "us" - and even the "them" - in a symbiotic dance of mutual influence, each impacting upon the other and being impacted in turn. This relationship of being "bound to others" occurs not only during the brief span of our lifetime, "from womb to tomb," but is continuation of "past and present." We are who we are now because of the actions of our predecessors. Likewise, "by each crime and every kindness we birth our future." Our actions affect not only the community of the present, but the communities of future generations as well.

This, I believe, is the meaning of the mashal (allegory) mentioned by the Rambam in Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4:

Therefore, each and every person must see himself for the entire year as though he is half exonerated and half liable; likewise, the entire world is half exonerated and half liable. If he commits one sin, he tips himself and the entire world to the side of liability and causes destruction for them. If he does one mitzvah, he tips himself and the entire world to the side of exoneration, and causes them salvation and rescue. This is the meaning of that which is stated, "The tzadik is the foundation of the world" (Mishlei 10:25) - this refers to the person who makes himself righteous ("mi she'tzeedek es atzmo"), thereby tipping the entire world [to the side of exoneration] and saving it. 

I don't think this is fluff, or hyperbole, or metaphysical scare-tactics. I think the Rambam means this literally: a single "crime" or a single "kindness" can literally change your life for salvation or destruction in this world. And since you are intertwined with every other member of the community, and with humanity as a whole, your action can tilt the entire world for good or for bad.

Conclusion (for Now)

The hour is late, and Yom ha'Kippurim is upon us. I wish you all the best for this year's teshuvah, as an individual and a community. May we all be sealed in the book of life.