Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur...a time to fast and pray.  Every year between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Jews are called upon to engage in an introspective process known as heshbon hanefesh, an accounting of the soul, to assess where we have missed the mark in the past year. We observe the Ten Days of Repentance by becoming conscious of our wrongdoings and asking God for forgiveness. Yet no amount of synagogue attendance or prayers will grant us forgiveness for sins that we have committed against one another. The Talmud teaches: “The Day of Atonement atones for sins against God, not for sins against man, unless the injured person has been appeased.” For that, we must go directly to the person we have wronged and ask for forgiveness. The rabbinic outlook on the subject may be most simply expressed as "God is just"; He rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked (Principle number 11 of Maimonides' 13 principles of the Jewish faith). Only the unrepentant sinner incurs His wrath; the sinner who repents is always forgiven. Thus the Talmud states, "He who sins and regrets his act is at once forgiven" (Ḥag. 5a; Ber. 12b) and the Midrash states, "Says the Holy One, even if they [your sins] should reach to Heaven, if you repent I will forgive" (Pes. Rab. 44:185a; see Yal. Ps. 835). The rabbis go even further in the ethical demands made upon the injured party, for not only must he be ready to forgive his injurer, he should also pray that God forgive the sinner before he has come to beg forgiveness (Yad, loc. cit.; Tosef., BK 9:29; Sefer Ḥasidim ed. by R. Margalioth 1957, 267 no. 360). This demand is based on the example of Abraham, who prayed to God to forgive Abimelech (Gen. 20:17). The reasons the injured party should be ready to forgive the injurer are mixed. On the one hand is the self-regarding consideration, already mentioned, that forgiveness to one's fellow wins forgiveness from Heaven. As Philo states: "If you ask pardon for your sins, do you also forgive those who have trespassed against you? For remission is granted for remission" (ed. by Mangey, 2 (1742), 670; see also Yoma 23.

The Christian teaching is much the same as the Jewish, in Colossians 3:13 we are told "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

So I must ask this, if one does not forgive another? What right does he/she have to ask the Almighty to forgive them?

If there is anyone you have wronged this year, and it's possible that the wrong that you have done has arisen from a misunderstanding, have you asked that person to forgive you? Have they hurt you and asked your forgiveness? Are you willing to extend that forgiveness and hit your mark this year?