ROSH HASHANA: REPENTENCE WITHOUT CONFESSION
The basic question: If Rosh Hashana constitutes the first two days of the“Ten Days of Repentance,” why don’t we repent on those days?
Repentance, according to Jewishtradition, requires me not only abandoning my inappropriate behavior and makingsilent resolutions, but also vidui, i.e., verbally acknowledgingmy wrongdoing to the party I have wronged, apologizing and expressing to that party my commitment neverto allow myself to repeat that behavior. Even when my misbehavior isinterpersonal, after reconciling with the wronged party, tradition obligates meto seek forgiveness verbally from God as well. The Rosh Hashana prayer book,however, does not provide a formal liturgical vehicle for this viduiprocess. Why not?
A Basic Answer: The teshuva process is comprised of two majorelements:
- One element is purely behavioral:We focus upon each inappropriate act that has precipitated the need for teshuvah.
- The other element is attitudinal: This addresses our all-encompassingworld-view. The traditional Jewish world-view is a “God-centered andtask-oriented” one. Specifically: God, who is the source of all existenceand of all value, beckons every human being – Jew and Gentile – to help makeHis good world a better world – in partnership with Him. Sin is alwaysa function of our having abandoned that universalistic perspective - sometimesfor a moment, sometimes for a lifetime - in favor of a de-contextualized,narrow focus in which the individual’s self-interest becomes a goal in itself.
The purpose of the Rosh Hashana liturgy, Ibelieve, is to guide us in accomplishing the first crucial step in the teshuvaprocess, namely, to re-align our focus onto Judaism’s “God-centered,task-oriented” vision.
Thus, on Rosh Hashana wedo, indeed, engage in an act of teshuva. We do not focus yet uponour specific acts of betrayal. That focus comes during the following week, culminatingwith Yom Kippur. Rather, on Rosh Hashana we address the issue globally: weendeavor to neutralize sin's most basic cause, i.e., our tendency to define ourpriorities independently of our covenantal relationship with our Creator.
The themes of the Rosh Hashana liturgy,therefore, focus almost exclusively upon God’s absolute sovereignty - as theSource of being and values; and Determiner of ultimate outcomes. It expresses ayearning that “all humanity will unite in one integrated group, to fulfill Yourwill with a full heart.”
Likewise, the sounding of the shofarreinforces this “God-centered, task-oriented” focus. It reminds us of theshofar at Sinai, where God revealed His mandate to humanity; also, it evokesthe shofar of redemption through which God enables us to continue to work inpartnership with Him.
An additional dimension to the shofarexists. These wordless cries, dignified in their simplicity, indicate thathuman speech is ultimately inadequate to the task of characterizing our deepestdesire: our primal yearning to realize God’s values in genuine relationshipwith Him, our Covenantal Partner.
As we confront Him - in His Infinite Hiddenness,as well as in His Infinitely revealed, awesome Majesty which permeates thecreated world - the most essential aspect of our being remains speechless.