To the editor:
The Jewish “New Year,” Rosh Hashanah, begins on the night of Sept. 6. The Jewish “Day of Atonement,” Yom Kippur, ends on the night of Sep. 16. The days from the beginning of Rosh Hashanah to the end of Day of Atonement and the significant secular days in between are a period called The 10 Days of Repentance.
The Jewish New Year holiday and the Day of Atonement holiday are both referred to as “Judgment Days.” Interestingly, the Zodiac for the 10 Days of Repentance is Libra, and scales are the iconic symbol for rendering judgment.
The verse (Isaiah 55:6) reads: “Seek ye the Lord when He can be found.” The Talmud expounds on the verse to say that “…when He can be found” are The 10 Days of Repentance — the days when He is most accessible and prayers are most potent.
This is a period traditionally full of prayer and seeking forgiveness for transgressions. The Sages speak of two categories of sin: Sins between a person and The Creator and sins between person and person.
Sins between person and person require the offender to try to seek forgiveness from the person who was hurt. Pious Jews find it most urgent to seek forgiveness before the passing of The Day of Atonement.
The Sages recommended that people try to compassionately and graciously forgive those who seek their forgiveness so that they themselves may be looked upon compassionately from the Creator when they seek His forgiveness.
This reminds me of a phrase in the very-Jewish sounding prayer in the Christian Bible called the Pater Noster: “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Hersh Goldman
Swampscott
