The Christian Jewish RootsSýnishorn

One of the unique aspects of the liturgy of Yom Kippur is a section of prayers called the Viddui or confession. In these prayers, the community literally recites an alphabet of different transgressions it has committed, from A to Z (or, actually, Aleph to Tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet in which the prayers were written). 

Not only is this going to be informative for you but I have deliberately included all this in this teaching so that we Christians will get to know why God called Israel His peculiar treasure [Psa.135: 4 KJV]. We who are recipients of grace and who walk by faith need to be bridge-builders like the apostle Paul. 

We need to be men and women who are willing to reach out to those still steeped in Judaism with the love of God. And when they do accept Yeshua or Jesus as their Messiah, we will have enough sense to let them worship the Lord within the parameters of their Jewish background instead of trying to force them to become a Baptist convert, or a Pentecostal believer or some other denominational Christian.

 The "Al Chet" confession of sins is said ten times in the course of the Yom Kippur services. I will quote a part of it only here so you can get an idea of how serious the Jew takes a view of Yom Kippur. You will be surprised to know from reading it that most of the sins are connected to the misuse of words.

 This is their confession - “For the sin which we have committed before You under duress or willingly. And for the sin which we have committed before You by hard-heartedness. For the sin which we have committed before You inadvertently. And for the sin which we have committed before You with an utterance of the lips….For the sin which we have committed before You with knowledge and with deceit.

And for the sin which we have committed before You through speech.  For the sin which we have committed before You by deceiving a fellowman. And for the sin which we have committed before You by improper thoughts…. And for the sin which we have committed before You by verbal [insincere] confession. For the sin which we have committed before You by disrespect for parents and teachers……for the sin which we have committed before You by impurity of speech. And for the sin which we have committed before You by foolish talk. For the sin which we have committed before You with the evil inclination…..

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us. 

For the sin which we have committed before You by false denial and lying. And for the sin which we have committed before You by a bribe-taking or a bribe-giving hand. For the sin which we have committed before You by scoffing. And for the sin which we have committed before You by evil talk [about another]. For the sin which we have committed before You in business dealings…... 

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us. 

For the sin which we have committed before You by casting off the yoke [of Heaven]. And for the sin which we have committed before You in passing judgment. …For the sin which we have committed before You by swearing in vain. And for the sin which we have committed before You by causeless hatred. For the sin which we have committed before You by embezzlement. And for the sin which we have committed before You by a confused heart.

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us. 

And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a burnt-offering. And for the sins for which we are obligated to bring a sin-offering. ….The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things are for us and for our children forever, that we may carry out all the words of this Torah. For You are the Pardoner of Israel and the Forgiver of the tribes of Yeshurun in every generation, and aside from You we have no King who forgives and pardons.”

The language of the prayers, however, is instructional, for they are all in the plural; the point is that not one single person has committed all of these sins, but rather all, as a community, are collectively responsible. When reciting the lists of sins, it is traditional to gently beat on one’s breast over the heart in a symbolic act of self-remonstration [Luke 18: 13].