We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism-Ashamnu and Al Chet (Prayers of Awe)

by Tony Bayfield (Contribution by), Will Berkovitz (Contribution by), Annette M. Boeckler (Contribution by), Marc Zvi Brettler (Contribution by), Erica Brown (Contribution by)

Overview

A varied and fascinating look at sin, confession and pardon in Judaism.

Through a series of lively introductions and commentaries, almost forty contributors—men and women, scholars, rabbis, theologians and poets, representing all Jewish denominations—examine the history of confession in Judaism, its roots in the Bible, its evolution in rabbinic and modern thought, and the very nature of confession for men and women today.

Featuring the traditional prayers—provided in the original Hebrew and a new and annotated translation—this third volume in the Prayers of Awe series explores the relevance of confession today in what is bound to be the most up-to-date, comprehensive and insightful reconsideration of sin and confession in Judaism.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Rabbi Tony Bayfield, CBE, DD (Lambeth) • Rabbi Will Berkovitz • Dr. Annette M. Boeckler • Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler • Dr. Erica Brown • Rabbi Lawrence A. Englander, DHL • Lisa Exler • Rabbi Elyse D. Frishman • Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand • Rabbi Edwin Goldberg • Rabbi Andrew Goldstein, PhD • Dr. Joel M. Hoffman, PhD • Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD • Rabbi Walter Homolka, PhD, DHL • Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur • Rabbi Elie Kaunfer • Rabbi Reuven Kimelman, PhD • Rabbi Lawrence Kushner • Rabbi Noa Kushner • Rabbi Daniel Landes • Rabbi Ruth Langer, PhD • Catherine Madsen • Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, PhD • Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD • Ruth Messinger • Charles H. Middleburgh, PhD • Rabbi Jay Henry Moses • Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, PhD • Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, DMin • Rabbi Marc Saperstein, PhD • Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater, DMin • Rabbi David A. Teutsch, PhD • Dr. Ellen M. Umansky • Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig, DD • Dr. Ron Wolfson • Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel • Dr. Wendy Zierler

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683364788
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/01/2012
Series:	Prayers of Awe , #3
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Rabbi Tony Bayfield, CBE, DD (Lambeth), is president of the Movement for Reform Judaism in the United Kingdom. He teaches personal theology at the Leo Baeck College in London. He contributed to We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, and All These Vows—Kol Nidre (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Will Berkovitz is the senior vice president of Repair the World, a national organization that seeks to make service a defining element of American Jewish life.

Dr. Annette M. Boeckler is lecturer for liturgy at Leo Baeck College in London and manager of its library. She studied theology, Jewish studies, and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Germany and Switzerland and chazzanut both privately (with cantor Marcel Lang, z"l, and cantor Jeremy Burko) and at the Levisson Instituut in Amsterdam. She contributed to All These Vows—Kol Nidre, May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler is the Dora Golding Professor of Biblical Studies at Brandeis University. He contributed to all volumes of the My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries series, winner of the National Jewish Book Award, and to My People's Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries; Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef; All These Vows—Kol Nidre; May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor; and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights). He is coeditor of The Jewish Annotated New Testament and The Jewish Study Bible, which won the National Jewish Book Award; co-author of The Bible and the Believer; and author of How to Read the Jewish Bible, among other books and articles. He has also been interviewed on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air by Terry Gross.

Dr. Erica Brown, an inspiring writer and educator, is scholar-in-residence for the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. She consults for the Jewish Agency and other Jewish non-profits, and is a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation. She is an Avi Chai Fellow, winner of the Ted Farber Professional Excellence Award, and the recipient of a Covenant Award for her work in education. She is author of Confronting Scandal: How Jews Can Respond When Jews Do Bad Things; Inspired Jewish Leadership: Practical Approaches to Building Strong Communities, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, and Spiritual Boredom: Rediscovering the Wonder of Judaism; and co-author of The Case for Jewish Peoplehood: Can We Be One? (all Jewish Lights). She contributed to We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef and All These Vows—Kol Nidre (both Jewish Lights). She lectures widely on subjects of Jewish interest and leadership. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband and four children, and can be reached at www.EricaBrown.com.

Rabbi Lawrence A. Englander, CM, DHL, has been rabbi of Solel Congregation of Mississauga, Ontario, since its inception in 1973. He is author of The Mystical Study of Ruth, former editor of the CCAR Journal, and a contributor to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor; and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (both Jewish Lights).

Lisa Exler is a senior program officer in the education and community engagement department at American Jewish World Service (AJWS).

Rabbi Elyse D. Frishman is editor of Mishkan T'filah: A Reform Siddur and rabbi of The Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. She contributed to We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet, and Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un’taneh Tokef (Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand received her rabbinic ordination in 1993 at The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She has served as chief executive of the United Kingdom Movement for Reform Judaism and prior to that was vice president of the Wexner Heritage Foundation in New York. Currently she is director of JHub, an operating program of the London-based Pears Foundation. She contributed to All These Vows—Kol Nidre, May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (both Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Edwin Goldberg, DHL, noted lecturer, is coordinator of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) editorial committee on the forthcoming High Holy Days prayer book. He is the incoming senior rabbi at Temple Sholom in Chicago and the former spiritual leader at Temple Judea in Coral Gables, Florida. He has a doctorate in Hebrew literature from Hebrew Union College. He is author of Saying No and Letting Go: Jewish Wisdom on Making Room for What Matters Most (Jewish Lights). He contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Edwin Goldberg, DHL, is available to speak on the following topics:

• Can Swords Become Plowshares? Jewish Views on War and Peace
• Short, Short Stories from the Talmud and How They Can Change Our Lives
• Mindfulness and the Rebbes: Why Liberal Jews Should Learn about Chasidism
• A Brief but Vital History of Modern Israel
• Saying No and Letting Go: Jewish Wisdom and Texts on Doing Much More with Less

Click here to contact the author.

Rabbi Andrew Goldstein, PhD, is the rabbinic advisor to the European Union for Progressive Judaism and coeditor of Machzor Ruach Chadashah. He contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor,Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Dr. Joel M. Hoffman lectures around the globe on popular and scholarly topics spanning history, Hebrew, prayer, and Jewish continuity. He has served on the faculties of Brandeis Universityin Waltham, Massachusetts, and Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is author of And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible's Original Meaning and In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language, and has written for the international Jerusalem Post. He contributed to all ten volumes of the My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries series, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; to My People’s Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries; and to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un’taneh Tokef and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, has served for more than three decades as professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is a world-renowned liturgist and holder of the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair in Liturgy, Worship and Ritual. His work combines research in Jewish ritual, worship and spirituality with a passion for the spiritual renewal of contemporary Judaism.

He has written and edited many books, including All the World: Universalism, Particularism and the High Holy Days; May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef and All These Vows—Kol Nidre, the first five volumes in the Prayers of Awe series; the My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries series, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; and he is coeditor of My People's Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries (all Jewish Lights), a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.

Rabbi Hoffman is a developer of Synagogue 3000, a transdenominational project designed to envision and implement the ideal synagogue of the spirit for the twenty-first century.

Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, is available to speak on the following topics:

• A Day of Wine and Moses: The Passover Haggadah and the Seder You Have Always Wanted
• Preparing for the High Holy Days: How to Appreciate the Liturgy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
• The Essence of Jewish Prayer: The Prayer Book in Context and Worship in Our Time
• Beyond Ethnicity: The Coming Project for North American Jewish Identity
• Synagogue Change: Transforming Synagogues as Spiritual and Moral Centers for the Twenty-First Century

Click here to contact the author.

Rabbi Walter Homolka, PhD, DHL, is rector of the Abraham Geiger College for the training of rabbis, executive director of the Zacharias Frankel College, and a professor of Jewish studies at Universityof Potsdam in Germany. He is author of many books, including The Gate to Perfection: The Idea of Peace in Jewish Thought, coauthor of How to Do Good & Avoid Evil: A Global Ethic from the Sources of Judaism (SkyLight Paths), and a contributor to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (both Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur is the rabbi of congregation MJLF (Mouvement Juif Libéral de France) in Paris. She was ordained at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 2008 and is one of two women rabbis in France. She is the creative director of Le Café Biblique, a pluralistic group of Jewish study, and chief editor of Tenou'a (www.tenoua.com), a French magazine of Jewish thought. She contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights). She is author of En Tenue d ’Eve (Grasset), a renewed understanding of modesty and women’s bodies in Jewish thought.

Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, named one of the top fifty Jewish leaders by The Forward, and one of Newsweek's top fifty rabbis, is co-founder and executive director of Mechon Hadar (www.mechonhadar.org), an institute that empowers Jews to build vibrant Jewish communities. Mechon Hadar has launched the first full-time egalitarian yeshiva program in North America, Yeshivat Hadar (www.yeshivathadar.org), where Rabbi Kaunfer teaches Talmud. A Dorot Fellow and Wexner Graduate Fellow, Rabbi Kaunfer co-founded Kehilat Hadar (www.kehilathadar.org), an independent minyan in Manhattan committed to spirited traditional prayer, study and social action. He was selected as an inaugural Avi Chai Fellow, known as "The Jewish Genius Award."

Dr. Reuven Kimelman is professor of classical Judaica at Brandeis University. He is the author of The Mystical Meaning of Lekha Dodi and Kabbalat Shabbat and of the audio books The Moral Meaning of the Bible and The Hidden Poetry of the Jewish Prayerbook. He contributed to Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is one of the most widely read authors by people of all faiths on Jewish spiritual life. He is the best-selling author of such books as Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary; God Was in This Place & I, i Did Not Know: Finding Self, Spirituality and Ultimate Meaning; Honey from the Rock: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism; The Book of Letters: A Mystical Hebrew Alphabet; The Book of Miracles: A Young Person's Guide to Jewish Spiritual Awareness; The Book of Words: Talking Spiritual Life, Living Spiritual Talk; Eyes Remade for Wonder: A Lawrence Kushner Reader; I'm God, You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion and other Disguises of the Ego; Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians; The River of Light: Jewish Mystical Awareness; The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition; and co-author of Because Nothing Looks Like God; How Does God Make Things Happen?; Where Is God?; What Does God Look Like?; and In God's Hands. He is the Emanu-El Scholar at San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El and an adjunct professor of Jewish mysticism and spirituality at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion.

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is available to speak on the following topics:

• Jewish Mystical Imagination

• Rymanover's Silent Aleph: What Really Happened on Sinai

• Zohar on Romance and Revelation

• What Makes Kabbalah Kabbalah

• Sacred Stories of the Ordinary: When God Makes a Surprise Appearance in Everyday Life

Click here to contact the author.

Rabbi Noa Kushner is founding rabbi of The Kitchen. One part indie-Shabbat community, one part San Francisco experiment, and one part tool kit for DIY Jewish practice. The Kitchen is building a connected, spiritually alive Jewish generation and a new resonance approach to religious life. She contributed to Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Daniel Landes is the director and rosh hayeshivah of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Pardes brings together men and women of all backgrounds to study classical Jewish texts and contemporary Jewish issues in a rigorous, challenging and open-minded environment.Rabbi Landes is also a contributor to the My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries series, winner of the National Jewish Book Award and My People's Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award; Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un’taneh Tokef; We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet and All These Vows—Kol Nidre (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Ruth Langer, PhD, is professor of Jewish studies in the Theology Department at Boston College, where she also serves as associate director of its Center for Christian-Jewish Learning. She received her PhD in Jewish liturgy and her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. She contributed to Who by Fire, Who by Water— Un'taneh Tokef and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (both Jewish Lights).

Catherine Madsen is the author of The Bones Reassemble: Reconstituting Liturgical Speech; In Medias Res: Liturgy for the Estranged; and a novel, A Portable Egypt. She is librettist for Robert Stern's oratorio "Shofar" (on the CD Awakenings, Navona Records NV5878), and bibliographer at the Yiddish Book Center. She contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, PhD, is emeritus professor of Bible at Leo Baeck College in London, where he was principal (president) from 1985 to 2005. He is coeditor of three volumes of Forms of Prayer (the prayer books of the British Movement for Reform Judaism) and editor of the eighth edition of Daily, Sabbath and Occasional Prayers. He contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD, is a professor of liturgy and midrash at the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion and teaches in various academic institutions in Israel, and Europe. Rabbi Marx earned her doctorate at the Hebrew Universityin Jerusalem and her rabbinic ordination at HUC–JIR in Jerusalem and Cincinnati. She is involved in various research groups and is active in promoting progressive Judaism in Israel. Rabbi Marx contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights). She writes for academic journals and the Israeli press, and is engaged in creating new liturgies and midrashim.

Ruth W. Messinger is the president of American Jewish World Service. She contributed to We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef and All These Vows—Kol Nidre (both Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Charles H. Middleburgh, PhD, is rabbi of the Cardiff Reform Synagogue and director of Jewish studies at Leo Baeck College in London, where he has taught since 1984; and coeditor with Rabbi Andrew Goldstein, PhD, of the Liberal Judaism Machzor Ruach Chadashah. He contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Jay Henry Moses is director of the Wexner Heritage Program at The Wexner Foundation. Previously, he served for five years as associate rabbi at Temple Sholom of Chicago. Rabbi Moses has taught at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan and its Makom: Center for Mindfulness, and in many other adult education settings. He contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, PhD, teaches Rabbinic and Second Temple literature at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is author of The Rhetoric of Innovation (UniversityPress of America), and contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is recognized as one of the most thoughtful Jewish writers and teachers of his generation. He has helped people of all ages find spiritual meaning in both the great and small moments in life.

A noted author whose work has appeared in many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest, and the Congressional Record, Rabbi Salkin is editor of The Modern Men's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Jewish Men on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions; and author of Being God's Partner: How to Find the Hidden Link Between Spirituality and Your Work, with an introduction by Norman Lear; the bestseller Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat Mitzvah; For Kids—Putting God on Your Guest List: How to Claim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Bar or Bat Mitzvah; and Righteous Gentiles in the Hebrew Bible: Ancient Role Models for Sacred Relationships (all Jewish Lights), among other books.

Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is available to speak on the following topics:
• Is God on Your Guest List?
• Where Are the Men?
• While You Were Out, God Called
• The Secret War Against Israel (or, Why John Lennon Was Wrong)
• Outside the Red Tent

Rabbi Marc Saperstein, PhD, formerly principal of Leo Baeck College, currently serves as professor of Jewish history and homiletics at Leo Baeck College and as professor of Jewish studies at King's College London. Previously he taught for twenty-nine years at three leading American universities. He has published four books on the sermon as source for Jewish history and culture, and contributed to Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un’taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater, DMin, was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and has a doctor of ministry degree from the Pacific School of Religion. He is the author of Mindful Jewish Living: Compassionate Practice and codirector of programs at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, as well as an instructor in meditation at the JCC in Manhattan and other venues. He contributed to Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet and All These Vows—Kol Nidre (both Jewish Lights).

Rabbi David A. Teutsch, PhD, is the Wiener Professor of Contemporary Jewish Civilization and director of the Center for Jewish Ethics at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he served as president for nearly a decade. He was editor in chief of the seven-volume Kol Haneshamah prayer book series. His book A Guide to Jewish Practice: Everyday Living (RRC Press) won the National Jewish Book Award for Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice. He is also author of Spiritual Community: The Power to Restore Hope, Commitment and Joy (Jewish Lights) and several other books. He contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Dr. Ellen M. Umansky is the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor of Judaic Studies at Fairfield Universityin Fairfield, Connecticut. She is currently working on a book focusing on Judaism, liberalism, feminism, and God. She contributed to Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet and All These Vows—Kol Nidre (both Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig, DD, teaches liturgy and homiletics at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and is rabbi emerita of Beth Am, The People's Temple. She contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Dr. Ron Wolfson, visionary educator and inspirational speaker, is Fingerhut Professor of Education at American Jewish Universityin Los Angeles and a cofounder of Synagogue 3000. He is author of Relational Judaism: Using the Power of Relationships to Transform the Jewish Community; The Seven Questions You're Asked in Heaven: Reviewing and Renewing Your Life on Earth; Be Like God: God's To-Do List for Kids; God's To-Do List: 103 Ways to Be an Angel and Do God's Work on Earth; Hanukkah, Passover and Shabbat, all Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs Art of Jewish Living family guides to spiritual celebrations; The Spirituality of Welcoming: How to Transform Your Congregation into a Sacred Community; A Time to Mourn, a Time to Comfort: A Guide to Jewish Bereavement and Comfort; and, with Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, What You Will See Inside a Synagogue (all Jewish Lights), a book for children ages 6 and up. He contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Dr. Ron Wolfson is available to speak on the following topics:

• Building Good Tents: Envisioning the Synagogue of the Future
• God's To-Do List
• The Seven Questions You're Asked in Heaven
• Blessings and Kisses: The Power of the Jewish Family
• A Time to Mourn, a Time to Comfort

Click here to contact the author.

Dr. Wendy Zierler is professor of modern Jewish literature and feminist studies at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, New York. She is translator and coeditor with Rabbi Carole Balin of To Tread on New Ground: The Selected Writings of Hava Shapiro (forthcoming) and a Behikansi atah (Shapiro's collected writings, in the original/Hebrew). She is also author of And Rachel Stole the Idols and the feminist Haggadah commentary featured in My People's Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries (Jewish Lights), a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. She contributed to May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un’taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel is the senior rabbi of Temple Micah in Washington, D.C. He contributed to Jewish Men Pray: Words of Yearning, Praise, Petition, Gratitude and Wonder from Traditional and Contemporary Sources, May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un'taneh Tokef, All These Vows—Kol Nidre, and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Part I Sin and Confessi on in Judaism: From the Bible to Today
The Liturgy of Confession: What It Is and Why We Say It 3
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD
From Penitence to Nobility: Modes of Jewish Piety 13
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD
Sin, Sanction, and Confession in the Bible 32
Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler
The Problem of Repentance: A Dilemma in Late Medieval Sephardic Preaching 39
Rabbi Marc Saperstein, PhD
Six Understandings of Confession for Our Time 46
Dr. Annette M. Boeckler
Al Chet in Israeli Culture: Israeli Confessions over Everything 60
Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD

Part II Ashamnu and Al Chet: The Yom Kippur Liturgy of Confession
Editor's Introduction 91
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD
Translator's Introduction 92
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman
Annotated Translation 94
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman
A. Preamble to Confession
(Ki Anu Amekha, "For We Are Your People") 94
B. Vidui Zuta: The Short Confession
(Ashamnu, "We Have Been Guilty ...") 96
C. Vidui Rabbah: The Long Confession
(Al Chet, "For the Sin ...") 98

Part III Ashamnu and Al Chet: As Prayer Book Editors See Them
Finding Ourselves in God 111
Rabbi Elyse D. Frishman
Multiplying the Sins 115
Rabbi Andrew Goldstein, PhD
For the Sin of "Unattempted Loveliness" 119
Rabbi Edwin Goldberg
Manifesting as Jews 123
Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, PhD
From Staid Sins of Yesteryear to Wrongdoings of Today 128
Rabbi Charles H. Middleburgh, PhD
“Our Sins? They're Not All Mine!” 134
Rabbi David A. Teutsch, PhD

Part IV Ashamnu and Al Chet: Interpretations for Today
We Are All Unrepentant Humanists 141
Rabbi Tony Bayfield, CBE, DD
Forgiving God 146
Rabbi Will Berkovitz
For the Sin of … Poor Leadership 150
Dr. Erica Brown
We Can't Really Be That Evil! 155
Rabbi Lawrence A. Englander, DHL
We Have Sinned: T’shuvah in a Globalized World 160
Lisa Exler and Ruth Messinger
The Power of Words: Radical Creation, Radical Atonement 164
Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand
What We Learn from Having So Many Sins 168
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman
From First Confession to Perfection of Character 171
Rabbi Walter Homolka, PhD, DHL
The Jewish “ABC Song” 176
Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur
Aval Chatanu (“But / In Truth, We Have Sinned”): A Literary Investigation 181
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
Confession and Its Discontents 186
Rabbi Reuven Kimelman, PhD
On Hitting Yourself 191
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
What We Do Not Know 196
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Vidui and Its Halakhic Contexts 199
Rabbi Daniel Landes
Putting the Performance of the Vidui in Its Context 205
Rabbi Ruth Langer, PhD
Back to Zero 210
Catherine Madsen
Secrets and Silence: The Hidden Power of the Un-confessional Vidui 214
Rabbi Jay Henry Moses
The Remembrance of Things Past (and Future), Private (and Public) 218
Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, PhD
Can “Sin” Be Redeemed? New Metaphors for an Old Problem 222
Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, DMin
“Later He Realizes His Guilt” 227
Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater, DMin
Some Are Guilty, All Are Responsible 232
Dr. Ellen M. Umansky
Sin, Confession, and … Forgiveness? 235
Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig, DD
Percussing the Heart 240
Dr. Ron Wolfson
Al Chet Shechatanu: Collectively We Own Them All 242
Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel
Trying to Say Something, Something: Magnolia and Confession 246
Dr. Wendy Zierler

Appendix A: The Personal Prayers of the Rabbis (Talmud, Berakhot 16b–17a) 251
Appendix B: Confessions of the Rabbis (Talmud, Yoma 87b) 254
Notes 256
Glossary 270