It's just sundown here, September 21, 2007. In this neighborhood with a large Jewish population, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, has just begun. For twenty-four hours Jews will fast, pray and beg the Master of the Universe for forgiveness. Seeing that today is Friday, there is not much difference on the surface of things from any other Shabbat. But, it's quite different.
Atonement to God for sins, a practice followed in somewhat similar manners by Judaism's sister religions, Christianity and Islam, is seen, in one form or another, across the spectrum of human religiousness. While offenses against other people often have the force of law prosecuting them, it's those offenses with which civil law does not concern itself that the days, months, seasons or practices address.
Being a species based in the senses, we tend to be most horrified by the sins we see: murder, molestation, theft (private and corporate), violence, among others. But, within the depths of the center of many of humans there exists the kernel of those sins that are served before us on the evening news. This human darkness is the target of the actions of penance and confession of Yom Kippur, as well as the more recognizable sins.
What goes on inside the true penitent? Most important, some say, is healing. The human soul is a fragile thing, so easily damaged, and often that damage is beyond repair. Hence, atonement, experiencing, for a day, a season, or a moment, wholeness again through a sense of purging and forgiveness. This is the deepest of human desires: peace and tranquility in the face of a harsh world.
The myths offer many reasons for human sinfulness: the apple, heavenly war, divine incest, pride or cosmic disorder. They do not matter. Only the healing matters.
Atonement to God for sins, a practice followed in somewhat similar manners by Judaism's sister religions, Christianity and Islam, is seen, in one form or another, across the spectrum of human religiousness. While offenses against other people often have the force of law prosecuting them, it's those offenses with which civil law does not concern itself that the days, months, seasons or practices address.
Being a species based in the senses, we tend to be most horrified by the sins we see: murder, molestation, theft (private and corporate), violence, among others. But, within the depths of the center of many of humans there exists the kernel of those sins that are served before us on the evening news. This human darkness is the target of the actions of penance and confession of Yom Kippur, as well as the more recognizable sins.
What goes on inside the true penitent? Most important, some say, is healing. The human soul is a fragile thing, so easily damaged, and often that damage is beyond repair. Hence, atonement, experiencing, for a day, a season, or a moment, wholeness again through a sense of purging and forgiveness. This is the deepest of human desires: peace and tranquility in the face of a harsh world.
The myths offer many reasons for human sinfulness: the apple, heavenly war, divine incest, pride or cosmic disorder. They do not matter. Only the healing matters.
Image credit: 3D Bible Project
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