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The Al Ḥeyt (literally meaning “For the sin…”) is a confessional litany recited on Yom Kippur. It is an alphabetical acrostic; each one of its verses starting with a successive letter of the aleph-beit, to represent not only the moral failings that are specifically enumerated there, but the fullness of every way in which we missed the mark in the previous year.
| Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
עַל חֵטְא |
Al Ḥeyt — For the Sin |
א עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּאֹנֶס וּבְרָצוֹן: |
Aleph Be-ones u-ve-ratzon: We have sinned against You unwillingly and willingly. We keep ourselves ignorant of things we find unpleasant, |
ב וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בִּבְלִי דָעַת: |
Beit Bi-v’li da’at: We have sinned against You by misusing our minds. We harbor hateful thoughts, hold grudges, and let wounds fester. |
ג עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּגִלּוּי עֲרָיוֹת: |
Gimel Be-gilui arayot: We have sinned against You by sexual immorality. We fail to stand against child trafficking |
ד וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּדַעַת וּבְמִרְמָה: |
Dalet Be-da’at u-ve-mir’mah: We have sinned against You knowingly and deceitfully. We foresee the consequences of our actions |
ה עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּהוֹנָאַת רֵעַ: |
Heh Be-hona’at re’a: We have sinned against You by wronging others. We tell half-truths and lie by omission. |
ו וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בִּוְעִידַת זְנוּת: |
Vav Be-vi’dat z’nut: We have sinned against You by supporting immorality. We allow evil to flourish and remain silent while atrocities are committed. |
ז עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּזִלְזוּל הוֹרִים וּמוֹרִים: |
Zayin Be-zilzul horim u-morim: We have sinned against You by deriding parents and teachers. We ignore our elders, and think of them as a burden. |
ח וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּחֹזֶק יָד: |
Ḥet Be-ḥozek yad: We have sinned against You by strengthening our grasp. We become violent and we lash out. |
ט עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּטֻמְאַת שְׂפָתָיִם: |
Tet Be-tum’at s’fatayim: We have sinned against You by impurity of our lips. We spread gossip and slander. |
י וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּיֵצֶר הָרָע: |
Yud Be-yetzer ha-ra: We have sinned against You by not resisting the impulse to evil. We succumb to our desires and our base emotions, |
וְעַל כֻּלָּם אֱלוֹהַּ סְלִיחוֹת. סְלַח לָנוּ. מְחַל לָנוּ. כַּפֶּר לָנוּ: |
Ve-al kulam, Eloah seliḥot, selaḥ lanu, meḥal lanu, kaper lanu. And for all of them, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, let us atone. |
כ עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּכַחַשׁ וּבְכָזָב: |
Kaf Be-chaḥash u-ve-chazav: We have sinned against You by fraud and falsehood. We overrepresent ourselves and our talents. |
ל וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּלָצוֹן: |
Lamed Be-latzon: We have sinned against You by scoffing. We assume we know better, and we tell people that they’re doing it wrong. |
מ עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּמַשָּׂא וּבְמַתָּן: |
Mem Be-masa u-ve-matan: We have sinned against You by dishonesty in business. We return items six months past their return-by date. |
נ וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּנֶשֶׁךְ וּבְמַרְבִּית: |
Nun Be-neshech u-ve-mar’bit: We have sinned against You by charging usurious interest. We fudge numbers for our customers and on our taxes, |
ס עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּשִׂיחַ שִׂפְתוֹתֵינוּ: |
Samekh Be-si’aḥ sif’toteinu: We have sinned against You by idle chatter. We fritter away our time in small talk. |
ע וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּעֵינַיִם רָמוֹת: |
Ayin Be-einayim ramot: We have sinned against You by haughtiness. We look down our noses at people who don’t measure up to our standards. |
וְעַל כֻּלָּם אֱלוֹהַּ סְלִיחוֹת. סְלַח לָנוּ. מְחַל לָנוּ. כַּפֶּר לָנוּ: |
Ve-al kulam, Eloah seliḥot, selaḥ lanu, meḥal lanu, kaper lanu. And for all of them, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, let us atone. |
פ עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בִּפְרִיקַת עוֹל: |
Peh Bi-f’rikat ol: We have sinned against You by shirking responsibility. We don’t want to do things because they’re hard. |
צ וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בִּצְדִיַּת רֵעַ: |
Tzadi Bi-tz’diyat re’a: We have sinned against You by plotting against others. We are exclusionary and form cliques, and talk about outsiders behind their backs. |
ק עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּקַלּוּת רֹאשׁ: |
Quf Be-kalut rosh: We have sinned against You by irreverence. We laugh inappropriately. |
ר וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בְּרִיצַת רַגְלַיִם לְהָרַע: |
Resh Be-ritzat rag’layim le-hara: We have sinned against You by rushing to do evil. We fall into patterns and form habits. |
ש עַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בִּשְׁבוּעַת שָׁוְא: |
Shin Bi-sh’vu’at shav: We have sinned against You by taking vain oaths. We have selective memories, and fib about what we do remember. |
ת וְעַל חֵטְא שֶׁחָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ בִּתְשׂוּמֶת יָד: |
Tav Bi-t’sumet yad: We have sinned against You by breaching trust. We violate the confidence of others. |
וְעַל כֻּלָּם אֱלוֹהַּ סְלִיחוֹת. סְלַח לָנוּ. מְחַל לָנוּ. כַּפֶּר לָנוּ: |
Ve-al kulam, Eloah seliḥot, selaḥ lanu, meḥal lanu, kaper lanu. And for all of them, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, let us atone. |
I wrote this interpreted version of the Al Ḥeyt several years ago and used it at Ḥavurat Shalom in Somerville, Massachusetts over Yom Kippur.
The “Interpretive Al Cheyt for Yom Kippur” was first published (sans Hebrew) 17 September 2018 on the website of R’ Emily Aviva Kapor-Mater (under a CC BY license).
“עַל חֵטְא | Interpretive Al Ḥeyt for Yom Kippur, by Rabbi Emily Aviva Kapor-Mater” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
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