Yom Kippur theology

[cellio]

This year the contrast between two statements in the machzor (special prayer book for these holidays) struck me. We have both of the following statements:

1. For transgressions against God Yom Kippur attones, but for transgressions against other people, YK does not attone until you have made peace with that person. [1]

2. The "release": I forgive those who have wronged me and please don't punish them on my account, and I hope they say the same about me. (This is a paraphrase.)

If I am "off the hook" for something I did via #2 (the other person made this blanket statement) but I never actually made amends, how can I attone under #1 -- we didn't make peace? Or is the point to be strict on my own actions (I must make peace) but liberal on others'? I could think that #2 is for unknown offenses (I can't make amends if I don't know I wronged you), except that the text of the release says "intentional and unintentional".

(Am I correct in assuming that #2 is not a liberal innovation? I've never actually used or studied a traditional machzor, though I am motivated to find one now because a number of the translations [2] in ours struck me as wrong and I want to know what the Hebrew really says.)

[1] There's what amounts to a good-faith exclusion here, so you can't be hosed by someone who consistently refuses to forgive you.

[2] Reform prayer books before Mishkan T'filah feature a mix of loose translations and "alternative readings" (usually but not always marked as such). I am in the position of knowing enough Hebrew to see the issues but not enough to be able to just translate the text myself.

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I suggest the ArtScroll Interlinear machzor for this purpose. It's a VERY traditional machzor, and it does its translation word-for-word, so you can see what each WORD means, which gives you a MUCH better feeling for the flow of the Hebrew, and takes a lot of the "trust the translator" feel out of it.

It's not a liberal invention, not at all. The Artscroll includes the variation of the formula written by the Chofetz Chayyim -- which says, "I forgive everyone everything, unless it's money they owe me that's collectible under law, or if they wronged me saying, 'Hey, he's just gonna have to forgive me at Yom Kippur,', but, other than that, I forgive everyone everything."

Of course, in halacha, there are other exceptions beyond that, as well -- people who are completely unrepentant, for instance.

I'm not 100% sure of the halachic ways those two things are integrated, but I have some philosophical/psychological ideas, and a guess about a halachic thing.

First -- the formula says, "I forgive; let no one be punished on my account."

However, if the person feels no guilt about the thing, then it's not ONLY you that has been wronged -- being unrepentant about what you've done is against Hashem.

So -- if the person feels repentant, and wants to change, and you have said that formula, then, even if you've never talked about it, you've both done your parts. If you can forgive that person, and that person desires forgiveness, then it works.

If that person is NOT repentant, then they WON'T be forgiven, even if you've forgiven them. Forgiveness has to be asked for, as well as given, as well as granted.

Psychologically, forgiveness is a way of cutting away a spiritual/psychic weight from you. And THAT can be done regardless of the other person's actions or mental state.

[cellio]

Thanks for the machzor suggestion. I have one of their interlinear-translation siddurim and I find that useful as a reference; I didn't know they had a machzor in that format.

However, if the person feels no guilt about the thing, then it's not ONLY you that has been wronged -- being unrepentant about what you've done is against Hashem.

Oh, good point!