Israel & the Occupied Territories

“There shall be law for the citizen and for the stranger who dwells among you.” (Exodus 12:49)

RHR Vidui 5769

RHR Vidui 5769/2008

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RHR Vidui 5768

The vidui (recounting of our sins) during the High Holidays is intended to make us feel uncomfortable, to confront us with the wrongs we have done. This vidui relates to our society today, to the way in which we treat the unemployed and disadvantaged, immigrants, migrant workers, single mothers, the elderly, the exploited women, the Arab citizens of the State and the Palestinians, and those we disagree with politically. Each one of us is guilty of some of these sins; collectively, we are guilty of them all.

For the sin which we have sinned against you by the closing of borders
To Sudanese refugees fleeing for their lives.

For the sin which we have sinned against You by indulging in food and drink
As the social gap has grown.

For the sin which we have sinned against You by hardening our hearts
To poverty, hunger and despair, allowing the unequal distribution of resources.

And for the sin which we have sinned against You by insensitivity
Repeatedly cutting away the safety net from underneath the weaker sections of society

For the sin which we have sinned against You through Lashon HaRa (slander)
Claiming that the unemployed are "faking it” and “parasites.”

And for the sin which we have sinned against You by casting aside the weak
Neglecting medicines for the sick, those requiring assisted living and the mentally ill in the health care budget.

For the sin which we have sinned against You by intentionally forgetting
As we exploit foreign workers, that we were once strangers in the Land of Egypt.

And for the sin which we have sinned against You in doing business
Rather than fighting those operating as pimps and trafficking in women.

For the sin which we have sinned against You by desecrating Your name
Abandoning the "agunot" and those women who were not granted a divorce in the name of our religion, and ignoring the solutions which exist in the Halacha.
And for the sin which we have sinned against You by scoffing,
Denigrating new immigrants and failing to honor their traditions and cultures.
For the sin which we have sinned against You consciously or unconsciously,
When fellow citizens are under-represented in government, academia and business,
And are not permitted to fully be a part of society.

And for the sin which we have sinned against You through the words we have mouthed,
As if we truly cared about the weakest and poorest among us.

For the sin which we have sinned against You through deception
When we said that we would build new homes for those evacuated from Gaza

And for the sin which we have sinned against you through hard heartedness
Towards the homeless and ignoring the bitter cries of the children in unrecognized
Villages and in the Occupied Territories whose homes we have demolished.

For the sin which we have sinned against You by being silent,
When we knew that others were being mistreated and yet we did nothing.

And for the sin which we have sinned against You through hypocrisy
When we didn’t do a thing to stop the rising violence against Palestinians and then
Lamented when the same criminals attacked soldiers.

For the sin which we have sinned against you by light headedness.
When we failed to distinguish between genuine self defense and the use of exaggerated Deadly force.

And for the sin which we sinned against you through justification
When we said that everything is permitted in the name of our defense.

For the sin which we have sinned against You knowingly or unknowingly,
Allowing Israeli governments to continue steal or prevent access to lands, demolish homes, pave roads, uproot trees, limit the flow of basic goods, torture, abuse and humiliate.

And for the sin which we have sinned against You through insolence -
Saying that only Jews have rights to the Land.

For the sin which we have sinned against you knowingly or through self deception,
When we found excuses for collective punishment and the harming of civilians.

And for the sin which we have sinned against you by running to do evil
When we used force before looking for other options.

For the sin which we have sinned against You through baseless hatred
Of all who are not “us.”

And for the sin which we have sinned against You by narrow mindedness -
Feeling only our own pain, while closing our minds to the agony of bereaved Arab
mothers and fathers.
For the sin which we have sinned against You by desecrating Your Name -
By abusing others and calling it Your Will.

And for the sin which we have sinned against You by thinking to ourselves and by Whispering in closed rooms about that which we should have shouted from the Rooftops.

For the sin which we have sinned against you through lack of knowledge
Because we didn’t want to know how we could have helped.

For the sin which we have sinned against You by lack of faith in You, in ourselves, and in our society,
When we said that Tikun Olam (Repairing the World) is “In the heavens” or “Across the Sea,” and thus beyond our capability.

For all these and more, God of forgiveness, we ask forgiveness, pardon, and atonement.

May the words and the intentions of our prayer bring us to true repentance and lead us forward to acts of righteousness and tzedaka, in order to make our world a place in which Shechina can dwell.

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