A Confession for Our Trying Times

Laws of Fasts, Chapter 1:

This practice [of fasting] is one of the paths of repentance, for when a difficulty arises, and the people cry out [to God] and sound the trumpets, everyone will realize that [the difficulty] occurred because of their evil conduct, as [Jeremiah 5:25] states: “Your sins have turned away [the rains and the harvest climate].” This [realization] will cause the removal of this difficulty.

Whenever there is a communal fast that was instituted for a distressing circumstance, the [community’s] court and [its] elders sit in the synagogue and review the conduct of the city’s [inhabitants] from the time the morning prayers were concluded until noon. They remove the stumbling blocks that lead to sin. They give warnings, enquire, and investigate all those who pursue violence and sin, and [encourage them] to depart [from these ways]. Similarly, [they investigate] people who coerce others and humble them. They also occupy themselves with other similar matters.

[This is what would happen] from noon until the evening: During the [third] quarter of the day, they would read the blessings and the curses in the Torah [as implied by]: “My son, do not despise the instruction of the Lord, and do not reject His rebuke.” As the haftarah, they would read a portion from the prophets appropriate to the distress [for which they are fasting].

During the [fourth] quarter of the day, the afternoon service is recited, supplications are made, [the people] cry out [to God] and confess according to their capability.

I would hope that when we actually come together for this noble purpose, the public confession would approximate this form:

Forgive us, our Father, for we have sinned; Pardon us, our King, for we have transgressed.

You commanded us to appoint a king of Your choice. Woe unto us, for we have rebelled and appointed leaders whom You have not chosen and who do not do Thy will.

You commanded us to drive out the hostile inhabitants of the land so that we can settle it. Woe unto us, for instead we have left them to be as thorns in our eyes, and as pricks in our sides, and they harass us throughout the land.

You commanded us to destroy Amalek, those who have shown that they would do anything to destroy us. Woe unto us, for instead we have allowed them to prosper and multiply, and we have allowed them to kill us.

You commanded us to wage war according to Your laws for the sake of our people and our land, and You promised us victory if we did so. Woe unto us, for instead we have either simply refused to go to war, or we have waged war with perverted intentions, and thus we have not been victorious.

You commanded us to settle the enviable and fertile land that you gave us. Woe unto us, for instead we have remained distanced from it and allowed strangers to inherit it.

You commanded us to appoint judges in our gates to teach us Your Torah and adjudicate according to it. Woe to us, for we have instead appointed arrogant, godless ignorami to legislate by their whims and pervert justice.

You commanded us to build a house for Thine Great and Holy Name. Woe unto us, for we have left it abandoned and in ruins.

You commanded us to worship You there and and to bring our sacrifices. Woe unto us, for we do not even try to do so.

You commanded us to be holy and abstain from the forbidden relations, and to acknowledge Your omnipotence and timelessness by keeping Your Sabbaths and not worshipping false gods. Woe unto us, for we have desecrated Your Sabbaths with gatherings dedicated to fornication and paganism.

You commanded us to love each other as we love ourselves. Woe unto us, for we have hated and pursued each other instead of our enemies.

You commanded us to trust in Thee alone. Woe unto us, for we have placed our trust in noblemen, money, and arms, that do not save us in our times of need.

You gave us Your Law and commandments for our own good. We unto us that we barely study Your law, and too often choose not to keep many of its commandments.

Therefore, we ask for Your forgiveness, and we take it upon ourselves to keep Your commandments from now on.