Seven days left for Rosh Hashana!!! It’s almost here! During the Selichot prayers before Rosh Hashana and during the High Holidays we repeatedly ask H”S to forgive us in three ways:
1.Selach Lanu, which comes from “Selichah” meaning “Pardon.” This is to say “I’m sorry for what I did; I sincerely regret having done it and I will try very hard to not ever do it again.”
2.Mechal Lanu comes from the word “Mechilah” meaning “wiping away.” This means that we ask the one we have wronged to wipe away our transgression as it had never happened and we ask to restore the relationship to what it used to be.
3.Kapper Lanu comes from “kapparah” meaning “atonement”. Here we ask H”S to please take away our guilt for the harm we caused, for He is the only One that can take it away, when we understand that what happened to us was necessary so we could learn a lesson and fix ourselves. On the other hand the person who suffered because of us had also to go through it. The question is “why did H”S use me to cause this pain to someone else?
Ask yourself:How have I responded to someone who has asked forgiveness? Is it easy for me to not hold grudges and forgive?
Remember that the way we forgive others is the way in which H”S will forgive us.
It is considered cruel not to forgive someone who comes to us for forgiveness.
Excerpts taken from “60 Days” from Rabbi Simon Jacobson
#Elul#Forgive#Pray
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