5787/2026
Imagine someone hurt you really badly. They said something very offensive, and it really hurt. You guys stop talking. Then, after a few days, the guy comes over to you and apologizes. But this isn’t a normal apology. He starts singing the word sorry to the tune of the national anthem. You would think the guy is a faker. The fact that he’s singing the apology shows it's a joke. He doesn’t mean what he’s saying!
Nevertheless, many have the custom when they are saying Vidui and admitting their sins to Hashem, to sing it: Nie nie nie nie nie, (pause), nie, nie, nie, nie, nie, nie (pause), nie nie nie nie, Aaaashamnu, Baagadnu, Gazaaaalnu, Dibarnuuuuuu Dofi. Nie, nie, nie, nie etc.
Wait a second, are we serious? Are we really singing to Hashem: We have siiiiinned, We have rebellllllled, we have stooooooolen! How can we do that? That’s not a real apology, we're singing it!!!
I heard from my Rebbe, Rav Mordechai Machlis, a beautiful answer to this question. He says that we sing Vidui not because we don't take our sins seriously; Rather, we sing because we’re so excited that since we’re doing Teshuvah on these sins, these sins are not only going away. They’re becoming Mitzvot! Because the Gemara in Yoma says that when a person repents out of love, his sins are transformed into Mitzvot!!!!!
Of course, this doesn’t mean you can do all the Aveirot you want and then later do Teshuva. The Mishna states that one who says “I will sin and then do Teshuva right after”, his Teshuvah is not accepted. He needs to be real.
But the lesson of singing Vidui is that we should realize Teshuvah is such an opportunity. Oftentimes, people think about Teshuvah and become stressed out. They think about what they need to work on and get all nervous. They say what if I can’t do it? What if I’ll just go back to the sin I was doing before?
The message is we’re looking at it the wrong way. Don’t view Teshuvah as a burden! As it says in the introduction to Sha’arei Teshuvah, view it as an awesome gift!
Imagine you were playing a hockey game against another team and your coach was also the referee. That would seem rigged. No team would ever want to play that team. That doesn’t sound fair. Even if the referee tries to be unbiased, he won't be able to help himself from favoring his team!
Hashem is our Avinu Malkenu, our father and our king. The question is the system seems kind of rigged. How can Hashem be our King and judge us, while at the same time be our father and have mercy on us? Isn’t Hashem going to be biased and favor his children?
The answer is yes. Hashem does favor us and it’s rigged! That’s the amazing thing about Hashem. He is not like a typical king. He is our judge and he will decide the fate of everyone, but at the same time, He’s our father and will be more kind than a human king. All we have to do is do Teshuvah! Once we do Teshuvah, then we can receive this incredible gift!
Too often, we view Yom Kippur as just a Malkenu experience. Hashem is judging us and it’s so intense. This gets us too nervous and we don’t do Teshuvah. We don’t believe in ourselves. Yes, there is a concept of punishment but we can’t forget about the aspect of Avinu, the aspect of Hashem being our father.
Once we treat Hashem like a father, we can understand that he’s just trying to help us. Just like a father works so hard and goes above and beyond to help his child, Hashem goes above and beyond to help us! Paraphrasing the Sha’arei Teshuvah, He’s giving us a get out of jail free card, a free pardon! We just have to do our part!
So this Yom Kippur, remember that Teshuvah is not a burden. It’s a gift! Hashem is our Malkenu and Judge, but he’s also our father! Yes, Yom Kippur is a time to admit our sins and apologize for all the bad things. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t sing. We sing because we love Hashem. We sing because we love our Father. We sing because we’re so happy for the incredible gift of Teshuvah!