I have long been intrigued by the concept of “forgiveness” both in general and within the context of Yom Kippur.  What does it mean “to forgive” someone, and what does it mean “to be forgiven?” My interest in the mechanism of forgiveness was particularly stirred when I watched Stephen Frears’ film, Philomena (2013).  Although much-fictionalized, the film was based on an actual investigation conducted by journalist Martin Sixsmith who claimed that the Irish Catholic Church had forced unwed mothers in their care to give up their children for adoption. Read more...

A few weeks ago, I was part of a rabbinic court (beit din) for someone who was converting to Judaism.  In his essay to describe his journey to Judaism, he mentioned that he had grown up as a Protestant Christian.  During the conversation, I mentioned that the High Holy Days were coming and asked him what he thought their meaning was.  He rightfully said that they were a very serious time when we are prompted to evaluate what we have done in the past year, seek forgiveness from anyone we have wronged, and plan ways to improve our relationships with others and with God during the yea Read more...

In general, Jews expect to maintain a becoming agnosticism about metaphysics. They tend to observe the admonition of the second chapter of the Mishnah in Hagigah, namely that “whoever considers these four things, better that they should never have come into the World: what is above, what is below, what came before and what will be after.” Hence, it is considered slightly tasteless to speculate about Heaven, or the afterlife, or even the nature of the soul, in conventional Judaism.  Read more...

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I have a Ph.D. in philosophy from a philosophy department that espoused analytic philosophy, which focuses on the meaning of words. I am therefore probably the last person you know who would tell you to ignore the words of Yom Kippur – the words of the liturgy and the words spoken in sermons during the day. Read more...