Contemporary Al Chet

FOR THE WRONG WE HAVE DONE BEFORE YOU by hardening our hearts,

and FOR THE WRONG WE HAVE DONE BEFORE YOU by giving up hope.

… by thinking we have to go it alone,

and … by thinking someone else will take care of it.

… by not serving our community,

and … by serving our community and neglecting ourselves and our families.

…by ignoring the past,

and … by not dreaming up new futures.

… by thinking we can’t make a difference,

and … by thinking we can save the world.

V’al kulam, Elo’ah s’lichot, s’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kaper lanu.

For all of these—G-d of forgiveness—forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement.

FOR THE WRONG WE HAVE DONE BEFORE YOU…

… by expecting perfection from ourselves,

and … by expecting perfection from others.

… by not taking ourselves seriously,

and … by taking ourselves too seriously.

… by not caring for our bodies,

and … by denying ourselves pleasure.

… by being quick to anger,

and … by being slow to forgive.

… by thinking we are too much, and … by thinking we are not enough.

V’al kulam, Elo’ah s’lichot, s’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kaper lanu. For all of these—G-d of forgiveness— forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement.

FOR THE WRONG WE HAVE DONE BEFORE YOU…

… by valuing a person’s political views over their humanity,

and … by avoiding difficult conversations with those we disagree with.

… by forgetting that we were all once strangers in a strange land,

and … by militarizing our world with borders.

… by not believing those who spoke up about sexual assault,

and … by believing those who spoke up, but doing nothing about it.

… by internalizing and perpetuating racism and ableism,

and … by internalizing and perpetuating sexism, homophobia and transphobia.

… by taking action against the occupation of Palestine but doing nothing about structural racism in the US,

and … by taking action to confront racism in the US, but doing nothing about the occupation of Palestine.

… by believing that hoarding our resources keeps us safe,

and … by seeing ourselves as separate from the earth.

V’al kulam, Elo’ah s’lichot, s’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kaper lanu.

For all of these—G-d of forgiveness— forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement.