d’var torah
Don’t Wait to Atone
Rabbi David N. Goodman
I Parshat Aharei Mot
hope you had a happy and fulfi ll-
ing Passover. Those preparing their
homes for Pesach know there is
cleaning and there is cleaning.

On an ordinary day, we wash dishes,
sponge off surfaces, maybe sweep up.

But the approach of Passover has many
people down on hands and knees,
scrubbing fl oors, scouring shelves and
counters, searching for any trace of
unleavened food.

What’s all this got to do with this
week’s Torah portion? Quite a bit,
actually. Aharei Mot (“After the Death”
of Aaron’s two sons in a sacrifi cial
accident) presents the sacrifi cial rites
for Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement,
in this account, is a time for intense,
collective moral housecleaning.

Aaron, the chief priest, fi rst sacri-
fi ces a bull to atone for his own and his
family’s sins. “He shall then slaughter
the goat that is the people’s sin off er-
ing … and so he cleanses the holy
place (Tabernacle) from the impuri-
ties and misdeeds of the Israelites”
(Leviticus 16:15-16). The Israelites
themselves are to practice self-denial
that day.

This aims to cleanse the accumulated
“moral pollution” of the past year. The
Torah asserts the need for periodic
personal and communal refl ection,
repentance and renewal.

Today, bulls and goats have nothing to
fear on Yom Kippur. But fasting, sexual
abstinence and long hours of gathering
in holy places remain part of contempo-
rary Jewish religious life. As when the
Temple stood in Jerusalem, today Yom
Kippur off ers a path back to a better life
to Jews who sincerely repent.

But wait. Or rather, why wait? With
Yom Kippur fi ve months away, why
not avail ourselves of opportunities
to do a “light cleaning” on a regular
basis? Why not fi nd tools to do a moral
check-in, to make amends and to get
back on track?
The message from the Torah and
tradition is simple: Don’t wait. In Leviticus
5:5, we read that as soon as a person
realizes they have sinned — whether
against God or a fellow human being
— they “shall confess the way that they
have sinned” and make amends through
the appropriate sacrifi ce. For an act that
caused a loss to another person, the
guilty party shall fully compensate the
victim, plus a 20% penalty.

In other words, in the biblical world,
there was no reason to wait for Yom
Kippur. Today, our daily prayer books also
urge us to act now, not later. The fi fth
and sixth blessings of the weekday
Amidah — recited three times daily —
ask God to help us return to the right
path, and to forgive our wrongdoing.

Twice daily, the Tahanun prompts us
to seek forgiveness and mercy. God,
it says, please “don’t recall our past
sins.” Instead, please “forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.”
So, if you spoke harshly to someone
in a moment of anger, if you failed to
repay a loan or return a borrowed item,
if you took a loved one for granted,
don’t wait. Make it right, right now. And
seek help from a higher power to do
better in the future.

Now the fl ip side of making amends
is receiving them. Just as we fail to
acknowledge our mistakes, those who
harm us don’t always rush to say, “I’m
sorry.” That’s where our prayer book
off ers this guidance: Let it go.

“Look, I forgive anyone who has
angered me, annoyed me or sinned
against me.” This statement precedes
the bedside recitation of the Shema.

And while not making everything right,
saying these words can help ease
some of the hurt that inevitably comes
from living in a human community. ■
Rabbi David N. Goodman is the rabbi
at Nafshenu, a Reconstructionist
community in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

He travels next month to the Holy Land
to take part in a delegation engaging
in Jewish-Palestinian reconciliation
work. The Board of Rabbis of Greater
Philadelphia is proud to provide diverse
perspectives on Torah commentary
for the Jewish Exponent. The opinions
expressed in this column are the
author’s own and do not necessarily
refl ect the view of the Board of Rabbis.

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