Confession and Repentance

Jun 6, 2022 | Torah Portion

The Torah commands us to confess our sins and repent from them. Sin is transgression of the Torah’s commandments. When we sin, we are not to remain in the sin, nor are we to passively accept the fact that we are sinners. The LORD commands us to strive against sin. We must humble ourselves to confess the sin and then turn away from it.
Even the smallest sin should be confessed. Confession should be made privately, but audibly, directly to God. King David says, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah’” (Psalm 32:5). John the beloved disciple says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
The Chofetz Chaim explains the obligation of confession and repentance as follows:

A sinner should turn back from his sin, and should confess his misdeed before God as Scripture says, “When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the LORD, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sins which he has committed” (Numbers 5:6-7). This means an avowal in words before the blessed God. He is to say from the depths of his heart, “I beseech You HaShem: I have sinned, done wrong, and acted criminally before You. This-and-this I did (and he is to describe the sin in detail); and here I have regretted my deed and become ashamed of it. Never will I go back and do this thing again.” The main element is remorse in the heart, in truth, over the past; and one must take it upon himself not to do such a thing ever again. Confession is the essential part of repentance; and the more one confesses, the more praiseworthy he is. (Chofetz Chaim)

The Torah links confession and repentance together: “He shall confess his sins which he has committed and repent.” Confession is the first step toward repentance. When John the Immerser called Israel to immerse as a sign of repentance, they came to be “baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5). Yeshua’s gospel message of the kingdom came with an imperative to repent. Most of Yeshua’s teachings illustrate repentance. The first step of obedience to Yeshua requires a confession and renunciation of sin. The life of discipleship requires daily confession and repentance.
Confession should be made audibly in prayer to God, but it need not be made in front of others or to another person. It does not require an intermediary. In Judaism, penitents need not confess their sins to priests or rabbis. Nevertheless, when possible, one should seek out a trusted brother or sister in whom one can confide, as James the brother of the Master says, “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Confessing transgression to a trusted friend and expressing deep remorse over the sin to another person introduces a level of accountability.
Disciples of Yeshua can confidently carry out the commandment, confessing sins before God. We know that, thanks to the efficacious sacrifice of our righteous Messiah, our prayers of confession and repentance will always be received: “He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions” (Colossians 2:13).
Nasso – × ×©× : “Make an accounting” Torah : Numbers 4:21-7:89 Haftarah : Judges 13:2-25 Gospel : John 11:1-54

The World Was Created for Me

May 29, 2022 | Torah Portion

A census report makes for difficult reading. Working through the details of tribal and family tallies can be an exercise in monotony, but Rashi found a sweet message about God’s love underlying the dry census data. He explained that God enjoyed counting the Israelites because of his special affection for each person. According to his interpretation, the census is a reminder that the children of Israel are not just a collective whole. Israel is a nation composed of individuals.
All the people of God are real people. Moses and Aaron counted them according to their “genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head” (Numbers 1:20). This method gave every Israelite the opportunity to tell his name and be counted as an individual of worth. Each person is valuable and unique, a special treasure to God.
In the Talmud, there is a discussion about Adam, the first man and father of all humanity. Why does all of humanity descend from a single human being? “To teach you that whoever destroys a single person is regarded as if he had destroyed an entire world [of people] and whoever saves a single person is regarded as through he had saved an entire world” (b.Sanhedrin 37a). The meaning of this teaching is that each person is as valuable as Adam, the first man. Though Adam was only a single human being, he held within him the potential of all humanity. So, too, each person shares that same potential. No person should be dismissed as simply a number or a cog in the wheel. Every human being is a whole world.
Moreover, the same Talmudic discussion points out that every person, regardless of race, is part of the same human family. The Talmud says, “Adam was created for the sake of peace among men so that no one can say to his fellow, ‘My father was greater than yours.'” We all have Adam as our common father. The same discussion points out that while we all come from the same prototype, we are all unique individuals:
[Adam was created] to demonstrate the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He. If a smith strikes many coins from one mold, they all look identical, but the most high King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, fashioned every man in the image of the first man, yet not one of them is identical to his fellow. Therefore every person is obliged to say, “The world was created for my sake.” (b.Sanhedrin 37a)
Yeshua told a parable about a shepherd who noticed that one of his hundred sheep was missing. A one percent loss is not terribly serious, but this particular shepherd had special affection and concern for every sheep in the flock. He left the ninety-nine and went out seeking the lost sheep, rejoiced when he found it and carried it on his shoulders back to the flock (Luke 15:1-7). From God’s perspective, we are not a nameless, faceless crowd of people. Each person is unique, special and beloved. God cares for you personally. He is concerned with your concerns and seeks your well-being.