ON FORGIVENESS IN JUDAISM
Our topic this morning is forgiveness at the end of life, and I have been asked to comment on this from the perspective of Judaism. Now, forgiveness is one of those topics like Mom and apple pie - it's hard to imagine how anyone could possibly be opposed to them. This would be especially so if it could be shown conclusively that forgiving leads to better medical outcomes. After all, pikuakh nefesh - the saving of human life - is without doubt the most important value in Jewish ethics. (But I must admit to questioning how a proper double-blind, randomized experiment could be designed and implemented.)That said, it is important to appreciate that at the end of life Judaism emphasizes confession of one's sins - vidui - rather than forgiveness, as the primary task confronting an individual. Traditional confession (never through an intermediary, as in Catholicism) has an important place in Judaism. Most people know of the yearly formalized confessions on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Lesser known is the specific vidui in the final prayer for those on the edge of death. Though substantially having fallen out of use in the modern Jewish world, it is worth quoting this prayer as an example of the tho
In ancient Jewish life, when a murderer was led out to be executed, a court official instructed him to say, "May my death be a kapparah for all my sins" (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 6:2). This is the way of the stock of Israel. Mekhilah is like a pardon granted to a criminal by the modern state. This is a debt toward the offended party borne by the offender. Murder is perhaps the ultimate sin which a person can commit. With borrowed money he started the factory that would become the largest electrical company in Germany. and before a heavenly judge repents. If the offender is sincere in his or her teshuvah (repentance), the offended person should offer mekhilah; that is, the offended person should forgo the debt of the offender, relinquish his or her claim against the offender. So, although Judaism teaches that there is no full forgiveness for murder in this world, if a person who commits murder devotes his life to repentance and acts of goodness, there might be in the next. " Considering his enormous contribution to the German war effort, it is ironic that, in June of that year, Rathenau was assassinated by anti-Semites who accused the Jews of having stabbed Germany in the back during the war. But Mathilde Rathenau's letter had a belated but profound effect on Techow. Hear O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is One. Say to your son that, in the name and spirit of him whom he has murdered, I forgive, even as God may forgive, if before an earthly judge your son makes a full and frank confession of his guilt .
Common topics in this essay:
Doctor Worthington's,
Laws Teshuvah,
Yom Kippur,
Werner Techow,
FORGIVENESS JUDAISM,
Poland People,
War Ministry,
God God,
Mathilde Rathenau's,
Atonement Lesser,
offended person,
relinquish claim,
forgo debt,
offended party,
werner techow,
ernst werner techow,
ernst werner,
offender simply reaching,
lord god,
set matters,
sin human,
ha-khet =,
reaching conclusion offender,
simply reaching conclusion,
takes set matters,
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Acceptance Essays
