The Power of Words
In asking forgiveness for our
sins of the past, we do two things:
admit what we did wrong and then promise to do better. In the prayers of the High Holy Days, several
times we list and enumerate behavioral sins.
We repeat these every year as though once the Days are over we forget
our resolutions and retract our promises.
Do we?
It is possible that for many
of us the meanings are lost with the pace and detachment of reading from a
prepared text, as we read without comprehension and reflection. It is, therefore, valuable to look at these
listed sins not within the context and environment of the service but as a
personal reading. By doing that, we can
focus on the sins that are more relevant to our own lives, activities and
experiences and make resolutions that are more personal and committed.
In one of those lists we ask
forgiveness for "the sin we have committed against You with our words, ... by speaking slander, ... by malicious gossip". There is a great emphasis on sins that we
commit with words and speech, especially when we distort the truth or speak
negatively about others, behind their backs, without allowing them to defend
themselves. For example, we commit a sin
when we try to promote a case that we support by speaking ill of the people who
oppose it (negative campaigning!) ; we commit a sin
when we tell behind-the-back what we do not have the courage to say
face-to-face ; we commit a sin even by passive participation in gossip and
slander if we do not discourage them.
King Solomon said: "Death
and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs
For additional columns: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~arigurj/Column_list.htm