cellio | Rosh Hashana and the season of repentance

Rosh Hashana, the new year and the Day of Judgement, begins tonight. We've been in a season of repentance for a little while, but we kick it up a notch now through Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).

One of the things we focus on in this season is repentance for errors we have made, intentional or unintentional. In Judaism, teshuva (repentance) isn't just about feeling bad that you did something; the process requires regret, making amends, apologizing to the ones you wronged, and endeavoring to not repeat those mistakes in the future. (The rabbis say that the true validation of teshuva is that you were in the situation again and didn't repeat the mistake. This is, obviously, the part of the process that is partly up to God.)

The problem, of course, is that you have to know you screwed up before you can fix it. If I have wronged or hurt someone, I would like the opportunity to do teshuva. This is not a blanket "if I've offended you please accept my apologies" post, because I don't know how I can do teshuva for things I don't know I did (or know I did but don't know were problems). Instead, this post is a request: if you are reading this, if I have wronged or hurt you, I ask you to contact me privately and give me the opportunity to correct the matter. If correction involves public action it will of course be forthcoming.

I want to screen replies to this post to make it easier for people with Dreamwidth accounts to respond, but I don't see where on the posting page I can do that. My email address is this journal name at pobox.com and DMs are open on Twitter. I'll be offline for the holiday for two days starting soon, but I will respond to anything I receive.

Thank you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Monica, we don't know each other and have never interacted on Stack Exchange. I'm not a major user there (and as such, won't even include my handle here). Nonetheless, I have come across many of your posts throughout the network and have found every one of them to be a positive contribution to the community. Apparently those who hold the gavel disagree.

Several high profile members of the community have expressed their support for you and have resigned in solidarity. As an average user, I didn't think it appropriate to make a splash there so I'll say it here instead: I stand with you. I don't believe that you have hurt anyone except for the egos of those who don't want their power challenged. I don't think you have any reason to apologize, although it's in your nature to show humility and acknowledge the possibility that you do.

Whether or not you continue to participate in the community, your contributions have helped a tremendous number of people. Thank you.