Sins

Q: In the Yom Kippur confessional prayer there are two items which are puzzling: “For the sin we have committed under compulsion” and "for the sin we have committed unwillingly.”  Surely there are no sins performed under duress or in total ignorance!?

A:  While it is true that an act carried out under compulsion is not sinful, it is entirely possible that the person enjoyed the forced act. Although he is blameless for the crime he committed, he can be blamed for the enjoyment of the opportunity to sin in and for this he must confess.

An example that comes to mind are the Kapos of the concentration camps under the Nazis.  People were often taken from lines slated for death and given responsibility to keep order in the barracks and follow all the orders of the S.S..  While compelled to follow the Nazis, the Kapos sometimes went beyond their orders and violence.

The other example you cited of sins committed “unwittingly” is called b’lo yodeim, in Hebrew, literally “without knowledge.”  This refers to those who sin in ignorance. They cannot be blamed for the actual sin because they were unaware that it was a sin of the time. Yet, they are held to blame for their ignorance as they had the means of overcoming their lack of knowledge

Can anyone receive and aliya?

Q:  Can any Jew receive an aliya?

A: Jews who have gone the wrong way in the eyes of Jewish law are not forbidden by halacha from being called up to the Torah.  A sinner can be given and given an aliya (after all, who among us is free sin?).

The particular sin, or crime, may have some bearing on the merit of a person being honored with an aliya. For example, public larceny is so much harder to ignore then a private misdemeanor. In some communities, those who have been found guilty of a crime would be barred from ascending the bima.  Who’s who had participated in an overt negative Jewish behavior which simile be disbarred from an aliya as a protest against such behavior, such as an adulterer, one who has deliberately strayed from their roots, or a person it was publicly gone against the teachings of Judaism.

However, once a person has been accepted as a member of a community it would be a “shame” to not call such an individual up for an aliya when they are observing a yahrzeit.

Sin and Forgiveness

Q: I understand that on Yom Kippur we are forgiven from ALL our sins.  Is this true?

A:In the Mishna we find, “For transgressions between a person and God, Yom Kippur brings atonement; but for transgressions between people, Yom Kippur only grants atonement when there has been forgiveness between the aggrieved.” (Yoma 8:9)  People are generally familiar with the first point, less so with the second.

There is an entire section in the Shulchan Aruch (the Code of Jewish Law) devoted to what people must do to appease one another when there has been a hurt (O.H. 606).  Until the victim has been asked for their forgiveness  -- and they have granted it—the sin remains.  A wrong that has not been resolved or redressed remains a wrong.

The Shulchan Aruch also indicates that a person should be predisposed to accept an apology and not cruelly refuse to forgive.

If the sin involves fraud or theft the guilty person must make the victim whole.  What if the theft cannot be repaid but the victim wishes to repair the relationship?  Someone who has a financial claim on another person should waive what is owed to him or her or there cannot be remission from sin.  In some instances they might say, “I forgive you but I am not erasing the debt that you owe.”

One final note:  Even forgiveness must be done with kindness.  One can run over someone with our contrition by telling them all the ruthless, terrible things we said about them or specifying the slander we heard all year long.  That is not nice.

Rabbi Israel Salanter said that it is not right to hurt another human being while seeking atonement for oneself.  “Your steps to piety should never be on someone else’s shoulders.”