Confessional – Al Het for the 21rst century
Adapted from Michael Lerner and R David Wolfe-Blanke
Section I The Self
For the mistakes we have committed by not taking better care of our bodies;
And for the mistakes we have committed by blaming our bodies for not looking like those in advertisements.
For the mistakes we have committed by not meditating in nature when we knew that we really need to be there;
And for the mistakes we have committed by not staying at home and just being quiet.
For the mistakes we have committed by being defensive and paranoid;
And for the mistakes we have committed by not trusting each other or even ourselves. For the mistakes we have committed by being afraid to look at ourselves deeply and honestly;
And for the mistakes we have committed by not examining our addictions.
For the mistakes we have committed by thinking that we were so far gone that we could not change;
And for the mistakes we have committed by imagining that we had already done enough changing.
For the sins we have committed by focusing only on our sins and not on our strengths and beauties;
V’All Kulam Elohai Slikhot Slakh Lanu, Mahal Lanu Kaper Lanu
For all these, my forgiving Guide, forgive us,pardon us, release us
Section II Family
For the mistakes we have committed by not forgiving our parents for what they did to us as children;
And for the mistakes we have committed by not forgiving ourselves for the negative traits and character dispositions that we inherited.
For the mistakes we have committed by not allowing our siblings into our lives;
And for the mistakes we have committed by blaming our siblings for our own suffering. For the errors we have committed by teaching our children everything but the meaning of life;
And for the errors we have committed by not sharing enough ordinary time alone with child- raising and family-time.
For the errors we have committed by not sharing enough time alone with our partners
And for the errors we have committed by expecting too much of our designated partners.
For the errors we have committed by not learning from the very old and the very young;
And for the errors we have committed by not sharing the communal responsibilities for child- raising and elderly care-taking.
For the mistakes we have committed by trying to control those whom we love;
And for the mistakes we have committed by not being supportive to others when they got into the painful spaces of being controlling.
for the mistakes we have committed by thinking we would run out of love if we gave too much of it away or gave it to too many people;
And for the mistakes we have committed by hurting others to protect our own egos.
V’All Kulam Elohai Slikhot Slakh Lanu, Mahal Lanu Kaper Lanu
For all these, my forgiving Guide, forgive us,pardon us, release us
Section III Community
For the mistakes we have committed by not discovering the spark of divinity within each person we have encountered;
And for the mistakes we have committed by not being in touch with our own divinity.
For the mistakes we have committed by not being fully present in the moment;
And for the mistakes we have committed by using spirituality as a distraction from facing our lives.
For the sins we have committed by not publicly supporting the Jewish people when it is beingunfairly dealt with and potentially destroyed;
And for the sins we have committed by saying that we were so ordinary that we had nothing to contribute.
For the sins we have committed by wanting things to change before they were ready.
And for the sins we have committed by not publicly criticizing the Jewish people when they act as oppressors. For the sins we have committed by expecting too much from our Jewish heritage;
For the sins we have committed by thinking we were “higher” and “more conscious” than everyone else; And for the sins we have committed by never really trying to experience the Jewish life that we have wanted in our hearts.
For the sins we have committed by thinking that our own way of getting to spiritual truth is the only way;
And for the sins we have committed by denigrating our spiritual path because it did not seem “universal” enough.
V’All Kulam Elohai Slikhot Slakh Lanu, Mahal Lanu Kaper Lanu
For all these, my forgiving Guide, forgive us,pardon us, release us
Section IV Society
For the sins we have committed before You and before ourselves by being so pre-occupied with ourselves that we ignored the social world in which we live;
And for the sins we have committed by being so directed towards the political and social worlds that we ignored our own spiritual development. For the sins we have committed by using Judaism, or psychology, or spirituality as a substitute for engaging in struggle to remake the world;
And for the sins we have committed by not lending support to those who are actively seeking solutions.
For the sins we have committed by being so worn out from hearing about suffering that finally we closed our ears;
And for the sins we have committed by not finding appropriate outlet for our social compassion.
For the sins we have committed by scoffing at those who returned weary from their work and hence were too tired to engage in political struggle;
And for the sins we have committed by being sure no one would listen even before we tried to communicate.
For the errors we have committed by not confronting sexist practices;
For the errors we have committed by believing that we were alone, that no one really cared, and there was no point in reaching out to others;
And for the errors we have committed by not fighting harder against our own sexist conditioning.
And for the errors we have committed by believing that our temporary powerlessness was permanent.
For the errors we have committed by being judgmental of others and ourselves;
And for the errors we have committed by not seeing the potential unity of the people and instead emphasizing those things that separate us.
V’All Kulam Elohai Slikhot Slakh Lanu, Mahal Lanu Kaper Lanu
For all these, my forgiving Guide, forgive us,pardon us, release us
Section V Society Miscellany
For pretending to emotions that we do not feel;
For using the sins of others to excuse our own;
For denying our responsibilities for our misfortunes;
For refusing to admit our share in the troubles of others
For condemning in our children the faults we tolerate in ourselves;
For condemning in our parents the faults we tolerate in ourselves;
For passing judgement without knowledge of the facts;
For remembering the price of things but forgetting their values; For loving our egos better than truth.
For confusing love and lust;
Focusing people as steppingstones to For treating with arrogance people weaker than ourselves;
For condescending towards those whom we regard as inferiors;
For the sin of war; For the sin of aggressive war; For the sin of appeasing aggressors;
For the sin of building weapons of mass destruction;
For the sin of obeying criminal orders;
For the sin of lacking civil courage;
For the sin of silence and indifference;
For errors committed knowingly and deceitfully…
By not listening to wisdom…
By reacting with anger…
By using violence…
By not taking care of our bodies…
By not taking care of our planet…
V’All Kulam Elohai Slikhot Slakh Lanu, Mahal Lanu Kaper Lanu
For all these, my forgiving Guide, forgive us,pardon us, release us
©2009 T’mimah Ickovits
