{"id":63323,"date":"2021-09-10T14:06:46","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T20:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=63323"},"modified":"2021-09-10T14:06:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T20:06:46","slug":"op-ed-we-have-good-reasons-to-give-ourselves-credit-this-year-heres-a-positive-viddui-for-yom-kippur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/op-ed-we-have-good-reasons-to-give-ourselves-credit-this-year-heres-a-positive-viddui-for-yom-kippur\/","title":{"rendered":"OP-ED: We have good reasons to give ourselves credit this year. Here\u2019s a positive viddui for Yom Kippur."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By RABBI JILLIAN CAMERON and CANTOR JUVAL PORAT<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Every year during the High Holidays, Jews recite a litany of ways we have fallen short in a confessional prayer. Known as a viddui, the prayer is a centerpiece of our Yom Kippur liturgy.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_63324\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63324\" class=\"wp-image-63324 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63324\" class=\"wp-image-63324 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9-9-21-yomkippurprayer-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-63324\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Sandra Geroux\/Eye Em\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This year, we again will reflect on our shortcomings. But one takeaway from the past year is that even when we do our best, it may not be enough.<\/p>\n<p>So many of us joyously awaited the return to in-person High Holiday services, only to have our plans undermined by the threat posed by the Delta variant of COVID-19. Our congregation, Beth Chayim Chadashim in Los Angeles, is planning only a handful of in-person services, all outdoors \u2014 and we know this may not be the final arrangement.<\/p>\n<p>Against this backdrop, we recognized that our community would benefit from a communal expression of encouragement, comfort and balance. We saw that the work of preparing our hearts, minds and souls for the holiday season \u2014 as well as dealing with our disappointment in the unpredictability and uncertainty of this pandemic \u2014 required intentional efforts to create space for optimism.<\/p>\n<p>So together we crafted a positive viddui for our congregation that we are sharing here. In our version, worshippers praise themselves \u2014 perhaps giving themselves a pat on the back rather than a beating on the breastbone \u2014 for inspiring, for maturing, for trying.<\/p>\n<p>We are not the first to craft a viddui that inverts the traditional liturgy. Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of what would become Israel, once said that Jews should celebrate our good deeds as much as lament our sins. Inspired by that, Rabbi Binyamin Holtzman wrote a wonderful complementary confession in 2014 that is available on OpenSiddur (translated from Hebrew to English by Rabbi Joseph B. Meszler). And five years ago Avi Weiss, a Modern Orthodox rabbi, shared his \u201copposite recitation\u201d with Jewish Telegraphic Agency readers.<\/p>\n<p>Our version adds to that tradition. Ours is different because we composed it in English, so it functions as an alphabetical acrostic in English the way its traditional counterpart does in Hebrew. It also references the pandemic era in its last line, when we confess that we have \u201czoomed and zoomed in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With much turbulence and trauma still unfolding, let us be reminded that it\u2019s OK to give ourselves a break and also focus on the helpful ways that we are navigating these unprecedented times. Despite a global pandemic, an unstable world and a planet hurting because of human choices, by acknowledging the good in addition to all the ways we missed the mark, we aim to remind ourselves of all the things that not just keep us afloat but lift us up, allow us to keep going and offer hope. We hope you find this meaningful.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We\u2019ve acted authentically<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve blessed<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve cultivated compassion<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve delighted<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve engaged empathically<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve favored fairness<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve galvanized<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve harmonized<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve inspired<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve joined<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve kindled kindness<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve laughed<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve matured<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve nurtured<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve offered optimism<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve persevered<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve questioned<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve released<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve sympathized<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve tried<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve uplifted<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve vivified<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve welcomed<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve x\u2019d out excess<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve yearned<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve zoomed and zoomed in<br \/>\nFor all these, Source of Life<br \/>\ninspire us, encourage us,<br \/>\nSustain our hope.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"OP-ED%3A%20We%20have%20good%20reasons%20to%20give%20ourselves%20credit%20this%20year.%20Here%E2%80%99s%20a%20positive%20viddui%20for%20Yom%20Kippur.\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":63324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[640,642],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63325,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63323\/revisions\/63325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}