nPostednon September 13, 2013
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nThisnevening the Jewish Day of Atonement begins. This is the holiest daynof the year in Judaism, and it marks the end of the “High HolynDays” that began with Rosh Hashanah.
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n“Atonement”nis the process of gaining forgiveness for wrongs that one has done.nIn Judaism, it is important to take several steps toward atonement:
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Onen must sincerely regret (feel bad about) the misdeed. This is called repentance.n
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nOnen should admit the misdeed to others as well as to oneself (and, Jewsn believe to God). This is called confession.
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nOnen should try to right the wrong, fix the mistake, or in some other wayn make up for the misdeed. This is called restitution.
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nEvennthose of us who are not Jewish can take the time to consider our mistakes and misdeeds. Feeling bad about our mistakesnand confessing that we were to blame are wonderful steps to take, butntrying to fix things seems most important of all. n
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n“Restitution”nis something that happens in the law as well as in religiousncontexts. A person who has stolen another’s big-screen TV, fornexample, may pay the victim for the value of the TV as well as serventime in jail.
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| A U.S. citizen who was of Japanese ancestry posted this sign, “I am an American,” over his business the day after the attack of Pearl Harbor. But he still lost his business |
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nSometimesnan entire society tries to do restitution to a wronged group. Inn1988, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act, which was anformal apology to those Japanese Americans who had been deprived ofntheir possessions, homes, businesses, and freedom during World WarnII. More than 100,000 Japanese Americans (more than half of whom werenU.S. citizens) were imprisoned in internment camps, although they hadncommitted no crimes! The 1988 act did more than apologize; it grantedn$20,000 to each surviving internee. Sure, it was more than fortynyears later, and sure, that amount of money didn’t replace everythingnthat was lost—but this sort of societal restitution is better thannnot saying or doing ANYthing!
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nAlsonon this date:
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Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day
Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day n
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InternationalnChocolate Day
InternationalnChocolate Dayn
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nLibrarians’nDay in Argentina
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nPlannAhead!
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on Septembernholidays, Septembernbirthdays,nand historicalnanniversaries in September.
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest pages on Octobernholidays, Octobernbirthdays,nand historicalnanniversaries in October.
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