No matter your opinion on one of the big news items this past week, there’s an interesting lesson to be learned. The trial of Amanda Knox has been in the headlines for quite some time and now she’s back home in Seattle.
According to some reports, the first call she received after her acquittal was from OJ Simpson congratulating her for a legal defense job well done.
But let’s try to leave aside personal opinions and projection for just a moment as there’s a lesson to be learned.
On Yom Kippur Jews gather in synagogues around the world and spend almost all their waking hours communicating with G-d. We express our remorse for our missteps over the past year; we ask G-d to forgive us and to grant us a good and sweet New Year.
And then… we repeat.
That’s right; we repeat virtually the same prayers literally hundreds of times. Almost all of the prayers of Yom Kippur reflect the same theme, forgiveness and return to G-d.
Did you ever wonder why we spend so much time repeating the same message over and over again? Wouldn’t it be sufficient to sincerely express our remorse and ask forgiveness once, and then move on to other topics? Why do we need to spend the entire Yom Kippur repeatedly asking forgiveness?
This week’s news helped me realize the answer.
Whether you believe that she’s innocent or not, one thing is certain - she’s been spending many years attempting to gain her acquittal. The gruesome murder of her roommate took place in 2007 and only now, almost 4 years later, has she managed to clear her name.
On Yom Kippur we stand before the Heavenly Court and we attempt to clear our name. More often than not we are “accused” of “offenses” that did occur and we have the arduous task of convincing the court to have the case dismissed due to a technicality; “G-d, please understand that I didn’t properly respect my parents because I was under duress.” Or perhaps we have to demonstrate to the jury that we are truly remorseful in order for them give us a lighter sentence.
When we realize the expense and effort expended on one case, it can help us understand the need to spend significant time and effort on Yom Kippur in order to “clear our name” and be inscribed in the Book of Life.
The good news is that our “state appointed defense team” is the best out there, the great angel Michoel, our forefathers Abraham, Issac and Jacob and our immediate ancestors all come to our aid and help us argue our case before the supreme court on high.
May we all be blessed with a good and sweet New Year!