Yom Kippur Demands More Than Repentance

Does God Really Reach Out to Sinners?

The opening phrase of the Yom Kippur liturgy that is exclusive to Ne’ilah (the closing prayer) is translated in most Machzorim (high-holiday prayer books) as though God assists those who do wrong:^[1]

אַתָּה נוֹתֵן יָד לַפּוֹשְׁעִים

Artscroll = You reach out a hand to willful sinners....

Lev Shalem = You extend Your hand to those who sin....

Mishkan HaNefesh = You hold out your hand to those who do wrong....

Such translations misunderstand an idiomatic use of the word יד, which literally means “hand,” but which can also express the idea of a space or place. For example, Deuteronomy’s rules for military encampments state:

^{דברים כג:יג} וְיָד תִּהְיֶה לְךָ מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה וְיָצָאתָ שָּׁמָּה חוּץ.

^{Deut 23:13} There shall be a space for you outside the camp, where you may relieve yourself.^[2]

Similarly, when the Israelites ambush the city of Ai, its defenders have nowhere to flee:

^{יהושע ח:כ} וַיִּפְנוּ אַנְשֵׁי הָעַי אַחֲרֵיהֶם וַיִּרְאוּ וְהִנֵּה עָלָה עֲשַׁן הָעִיר הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְלֹא הָיָה בָהֶם יָדַיִם לָנוּס הֵנָּה....

^{Josh 8:20} The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising to the sky; they had no space for flight in any direction.^[3]

Thus, אַתָּה נוֹתֵן יָד (lit. “you give hand”) means that God permits space for sinners to sin. The line concludes with the contrasting assertion that God assists penitents:^[4]

אַתָּה נוֹתֵן יָד לַפּוֹשְׁעִים, וִימִינְךָ פְשׁוּטָה לְקַבֵּל שָׁבִים.

You give latitude to sinners, but You extend Your right hand to penitents.^[5]

The prayer thus aligns with a similar contrast drawn in the Talmud:

^{בבלי שבת קד.} בא לטמא פְּתָחִין^[6] לו בא לטהר מסייעין אותו.

^{b. Shab. 104a} One who seeks to be defiled will find openings; one who seeks to be purified will be assisted.^[7]

Is Refraining from Injustice Enough?

Also misunderstood is the idiom מֵעֽשֶׁק יָדֵֽינוּ of the next line, which the Metsudah Machzor translates in general terms:

וַתְּלַמְּדֵֽנוּ יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ לְהִתְוַדּוֹת לְפָנֶֽיךָ עַל כָּל עֲו‍ֹנוֹתֵֽינוּ, לְמַֽעַן נֶחְדַּל מֵעֽשֶׁק יָדֵֽינוּ

You have taught us, YHWH, our God, to confess before You all our iniquities so that we may refrain from the injustice of our hands.^[8]

Though עשֶׁק may be rendered as “oppression” or “injustice,” it also refers more specifically to fraud or extortion. For example, in Leviticus:

^{ויקרא יט:יג} לֹא תַעֲשֹׁק אֶת רֵעֲךָ וְלֹא תִגְזֹל לֹא תָלִין פְּעֻלַּת שָׂכִיר אִתְּךָ עַד בֹּקֶר.

^{Lev 19:13} You shall not defraud your fellow. You shall not commit robbery; the wages of a laborer shall not remain with you until morning.”^[9]

Here, the withholding of wages is equated with keeping ill-gotten goods. Deuteronomy focuses, as does the Bible repeatedly, on the likeliest victims:

^{דברים כד:יד} לֹא תַעֲשֹׁק שָׂכִיר עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחֶיךָ אוֹ מִגֵּרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בְּאַרְצְךָ בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ.

^{Deut 24:14} You shall not defraud a needy and destitute laborer, whether of brethren or a stranger in one of the communities of your land.”^[10]

Likewise, Ne’ilah is also referring to fraud, specifically to not keeping ill-gotten gains:

וַתְּלַמְּדֵֽנוּ יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ לְהִתְוַדּוֹת לְפָנֶֽיךָ עַל כָּל עֲו‍ֹנוֹתֵֽינוּ, לְמַֽעַן נֶחְדַּל מֵעֽשֶׁק יָדֵֽינוּ

You have taught us, YHWH, our God, to confess to you every one of our sins so that we cease holding on to ill-gotten goods.

The confession that God taught us appears in the scapegoat ritual in Leviticus:

^{ויקרא טז:כא} וְסָמַךְ אַהֲרֹן אֶת שְׁתֵּי יָדָו עַל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׂעִיר הַחַי וְהִתְוַדָּה עָלָיו אֶת כׇּל עֲוֺנֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת כׇּל פִּשְׁעֵיהֶם לְכׇל חַטֹּאתָם....

^{Lev 16:21a} Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their sins.”

Ne’ilah’s novelty is to specify the sin.

The Abhorrence of Keeping Ill-Gotten Gains

The abhorrence at keeping ill-gotten gains pervades the Prophets.^[11] Jeremiah contrasts keeping stolen or swindled goods with doing what is just and right:

^{ירמיהו כב:ג} כֹּה אָמַר יְ־הֹוָה עֲשׂוּ מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה וְהַצִּילוּ גָזוּל מִיַּד עָשׁוֹק וְגֵר יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה אַל תֹּנוּ אַל תַּחְמֹסוּ וְדָם נָקִי אַל תִּשְׁפְּכוּ בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה.

^{Jer 22:3} Thus said YHWH: “Do what is just and right: Rescue the stolen goods from the hand of the defrauder;^[12] do not swindle the stranger, the orphan, and the widow; do not steal nor shed innocent blood in this place.”

Ezekiel draws a similar contrast:

^{יחזקאל מה:ט} כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱ־הֹוִה רַב לָכֶם נְשִׂיאֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל חָמָס וָשֹׁד הָסִירוּ וּמִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה עֲשׂוּ הָרִימוּ גְרֻשֹׁתֵיכֶם מֵעַל עַמִּי נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱ־הֹוִה.

^{Ezek 45:9} Thus said the Lord YHWH: Enough, princes of Israel! Rid yourself of ill-gotten gain and robbery; do what is right and just! Put a stop to your evictions of My people—declares the Lord YHWH.^[13]

The terms חָמָס, “violence, wrong,” and שֹׁד, “violence, oppression,” here refer to the gains achieved through these acts. Amos uses the same terms in his condemnation of keeping ill-gotten gains:

^{עמוס ג:י} וְלֹא יָדְעוּ עֲשׂוֹת נְכֹחָה נְאֻם יְ־הֹוָה הָאוֹצְרִים חָמָס וָשֹׁד בְּאַרְמְנוֹתֵיהֶם.

^{Amos 3:10} They cannot make things right, declares YHWH, as they store away the ill-gotten gain and robbery in their palatial fortresses.”

Amos points out how this misdeed markedly afflicts wealthy businessmen, who are in the best position to defraud the vulnerable:

^{עמוס ח:ד} שִׁמְעוּ זֹאת הַשֹּׁאֲפִים אֶבְיוֹן וְלַשְׁבִּית ענוי [עֲנִיֵּי] אָרֶץ. ^ח:ה לֵאמֹר מָתַי יַעֲבֹר הַחֹדֶשׁ וְנַשְׁבִּירָה שֶּׁבֶר וְהַשַּׁבָּת וְנִפְתְּחָה בָּר לְהַקְטִין אֵיפָה וּלְהַגְדִּיל שֶׁקֶל וּלְעַוֵּת מֹאזְנֵי מִרְמָה.

^{Amos 8:4} Listen to this, those who trample on the needy, annihilating the poor of the land, ^8:5 saying, “If only the new moon were over, so that we could sell grain; the sabbath, so that we could open the grain bins for sale, using an ephah that is too small, and a shekel that is too big, tilting a dishonest scale.”

The fact that these practically undetectable crimes easily elude punishment enhances their attractiveness to humans and their offensiveness to God. Ezekiel sums up the whole issue:

^{יחזקאל לג:טו} חֲבֹל יָשִׁיב רָשָׁע גְּזֵלָה יְשַׁלֵּם בְּחֻקּוֹת הַחַיִּים הָלַךְ לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת עָוֶל חָיוֹ יִחְיֶה לֹא יָמוּת. ^לג:טז כׇּל חַטֹּאתָו אֲשֶׁר חָטָא לֹא תִזָּכַרְנָה לוֹ מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה עָשָׂה חָיוֹ יִחְיֶה.

^{Ezek 33:15} If the wicked restores a pledge, makes good what he has taken by robbery follows the laws of life, and not commit iniquity—he shall surely live, not die. ^33:16 None of the sins that he committed will be chalked up to him; since he did what is just and right, he shall surely live.^[14]

For the prophets, a misdemeanor in our eyes is a felony in theirs. There are no peccadillos in deception and exploitation. As Abraham Heschel noted:

To us a single act of injustice – cheating in business, exploitation of the poor – is slight; to the prophets a disaster…a catastrophe.^[15]

Accordingly, Maimonides makes this the sine qua non of repentance:

^{משנה תורה, הלכות תשובה ב:ט} אֲבָל עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ כְּגוֹן הַחוֹבֵל אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ אוֹ הַמְקַלֵּל חֲבֵרו אוֹ גּוֹזְלוֹ וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן אֵינוֹ נִמְחַל לוֹ לְעוֹלָם עַד שֶׁיִּתֵּן לַחֲבֵרוֹ מַה שֶּׁהוּא חַיָּב לוֹ וִירַצֵּהוּ אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהֶחֱזִיר לוֹ מָמוֹן שֶׁהוּא חַיָּב לוֹ צָרִיךְ לְרַצּוֹתוֹ וְלִשְׁאל מִמֶּנּוּ שֶׁיִּמְחל לוֹ.

^{Mishneh Torah, “Laws of Repentance,” 2:9} But sins between man and man such as injuring him cursing his neighbor, or robbing him, and similar things—it is not absolved until he gives back what he owes him and makes up with him. Even if he made restitution of what he owes him, he is still obliged to make up with him and seek out his forgiveness.

Returning to God begins with returning ill-gotten gain to its rightful owner. Otherwise, as a midrash notes, one’s prayer is sullied:

^{שמות רבה כב:ג} כָּל מִי שֶׁהַגָּזֵל בְּיָדוֹ תְּפִלָּתוֹ עֲכוּרָה כָּל מִי שֶׁמַּרְחִיק עַצְמוֹ מִן הַגָּזֵל תְּפִלָּתוֹ זַכָּה.

^{Exod. Rab. 22:3} Anyone who holds on to stolen goods his prayer is sullied; anyone who keeps away from stolen goods his prayer is pure.

As Job declares:

^{איוב טז:יז} עַל לֹא חָמָס בְּכַפָּי וּתְפִלָּתִי זַכָּה.

^{Job 16:17} As there are no ill-gotten goods in my palms, my prayer is pure.

God’s rejection of stained-hands prayer harks back to the opening chapter of Isaiah:

^{ישעיהו א:טו} וּבְפָרִשְׂכֶם כַּפֵּיכֶם אַעְלִים עֵינַי מִכֶּם גַּם כִּי תַרְבּוּ תְפִלָּה אֵינֶנִּי שֹׁמֵעַ יְדֵיכֶם דָּמִים מָלֵאוּ.

^{Isa 1:15} And when you lift up your hands, I will turn My eyes away from you. Though you pray at length, I will not listen. Your hands are stained with wrongdoing.

Isaiah’s solution for undoing the wrong matches his fellow prophets:

^{ישעיהו א:יז} לִמְדוּ הֵיטֵב דִּרְשׁוּ מִשְׁפָּט אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ שִׁפְטוּ יָתוֹם רִיבוּ אַלְמָנָה.

^{Isa 1:17} Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; take the side of the exploited.^[16] Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow (cf. 23b).

And since wrong is redressed by doing right, the end of that unit notes:

^{ישעיהו א:כז} צִיּוֹן בְּמִשְׁפָּט תִּפָּדֶה וְשָׁבֶיהָ בִּצְדָקָה.

^{Isa 1:27} Zion shall be redeemed by justice (mishpat), her repentant ones by tzedakah (doing right).

Similarly, Isaiah of the exile (56:1) focuses on tzedakah and mishpat as the mechanism of redemption:

^{ישעיהו נו:א} כֹּה אָמַר יְ־הֹוָה שִׁמְרוּ מִשְׁפָּט וַעֲשׂוּ צְדָקָה כִּי קְרוֹבָה יְשׁוּעָתִי לָבוֹא וְצִדְקָתִי לְהִגָּלוֹת.

^{Isa 56:1} Thus said YHWH: “Observe what is just (mishpat) and do what is right (tzedakah). For soon My salvation shall come, and My deliverance be revealed.”

Suitably, blessing 11 of the daily Amidah, which deals with the judicial system in the context of the restoration of Israel, designates God as the sovereign of tzedakah and mishpat.

Why Ne’ilah Focuses on This Sin

Ne’ilah highlights the sin of holding on to ill-gotten gains because of its prominence in the book of Jonah, which was just read, where it was the pervasive crime of the people of Nineveh. Calling for his people’s repentance and restoration, the king of Nineveh says:

^{יונה ג:ח} ...וְיָשֻׁבוּ אִישׁ מִדַּרְכּוֹ הָרָעָה וּמִן הֶחָמָס אֲשֶׁר בְּכַפֵּיהֶם.

^{Jonah 3:8b} “Let everyone repent of their evil way by giving back the stolen goods in their hands.”^[17]

The vav of וּמִן הֶחָמָס is not a simple conjunction, which would indicate that the people are to repent and give back what they have stolen. Rather, it is the biblical explicative vav:^[18] the people should repent by returning the stolen goods.

As the concluding prayer of Yom Kippur, Ne’ilah takes its cue from the Bible in its condemnation of עֹשֶׁק, highlighting this crime in part due to its pervasiveness. According to the Talmud, most fail to avoid holding on to ill-gotten goods:

^{בבלי בבא בתרא קסה.} אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב: רוֹב בְּגָזֵל.

^{b. Baba Batra 165a} Rab Judah said in the name of Rav: “Most people stumble in robbery.”

Indeed, this sin sealed the fate of the whole generation of the Flood:

^{בבלי סנהדרין קח.} אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: בֹּא וּרְאֵה כַּמָּה גָּדוֹל כֹּחַ שֶׁל חָמָס, שֶׁהֲרֵי דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל עָבְרוּ עַל הַכֹּל, וְלֹא נֶחְתַּם עֲלֵיהֶם גְּזַר דִּינָם עַד שֶׁפָּשְׁטוּ יְדֵיהֶם בְּגָזֵל.

^{b. Sanh. 108a} Come and see how great is the power of robbery, as the generation of the flood violated every precept, but their sentence to be destroyed was not sealed until they extended their hands and engaged in robbery.^[19]

In Ne’ilah, only a change in deed reflects a change in heart. As Mishnah Ta’anit states:

^{משנה תענית ב:א} לֹא נֶאֱמַר בְּאַנְשֵׁי נִינְוֵה, וַיַּרְא הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת שַׂקָּם וְאֶת תַּעֲנִיתָם, אֶלָּא (יונה ג:י) וַיַּרְא הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם, כִּי שָׁבוּ מִדַּרְכָּם הָרָעָה.

^{Mishnah Ta’anit 2:1} It is not stated with regard to the people of Nineveh: And God saw their sackcloth and their fasting. Rather, the verse says: “And God saw their deeds, that they had turned from their evil way” (Jonah 3:10).

As noted above, the evil way they turned from is הֶחָמָס אֲשֶׁר בְּכַפֵּיהֶם, “the stolen goods in their hands” (Jon 3:8).^[20] A moral housecleaning requires an actual housecleaning.

Suddenly, it dawns on one the impossibility of making restitution this Yom Kippurim, notwithstanding the remaining hour. Confessions of Yom Kippurim require verbalization, commitment, specification,^[21] and if feasible restitution. Paradoxically, the closing service of Yom Kippurim urges a course of action that may not be consummated until next Yom Kippurim.^[22] In this way, we end this Day of Atonement by paving the way for the next, as we began in Kol Nidre:

מִיּוֹם כִּפּוּרִים זֶה עַד יוֹם כִּפּוּרִים הַבָּא עָלֵֽינוּ לְטוֹבָה.

From this Yom Kippurim to the upcoming Yom Kippurim for good.

From God’s Hand to Ours

The literary unity of these two lines emerges from the transition of Ne’ilah from the hand of God to the hand of man. God opens His hand to us, and we open our hand to the defrauded. This transition is marked with line 1 opening with יָד:

אַתָּה נוֹתֵן יָד לַפּוֹשְׁעִים, וִימִינְךָ פְשׁוּטָה לְקַבֵּל שָׁבִים.

You give latitude (lit. “hand”) to sinners, but You extend Your right hand to penitents.

Line 2 closes with יָד:

וַתְּלַמְּדֵֽנוּ יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ לְהִתְוַדּוֹת לְפָנֶֽיךָ עַל כָּל עֲו‍ֹנוֹתֵֽינוּ, לְמַֽעַן נֶחְדַּל מֵעֽשֶׁק יָדֵֽינוּ

You have taught us, YHWH, our God, to confess to you every one of our sins so that we cease holding on to ill-gotten goods (lit. from the ill-gotten goods of our hands).

The result is a יָד-based literary inclusio(n)^[23] whose teaching on repentance involves God’s outstretched inviting hand inducing us to hand over the ill-gotten goods in our hands. Our return to God is predicated upon our return of ill-gotten gain to its rightful owner.

Otherwise, as Maimonides states:

^{הלכות תשובה ב:ג} כָּל הַמִּתְוַדֶּה בִּדְבָרִים וְלֹא גָּמַר בְּלִבּוֹ לַעֲזֹב הֲרֵי זֶה דּוֹמֶה לְטוֹבֵל וְשֶׁרֶץ בְּיָדוֹ.

^{“Laws of Repentance,” 2:3} Anyone who makes a verbal confession without resolving in his heart to give it up (the behavior) is like one who immerses (in a mikvah) holding on to a contaminating animal.

Indeed, according to Sefer HaḤinukh:

^{ספר החינוך שסד} וְזֶה הַוִּדּוּי, צָרִיךְ בֶּאֱמֶת שֶׁיָּשִׁיב הֶחָמָס אֲשֶׁר בְּכַפָּיו, שֶׁאִם לֹא כֵּן מוּטָב שֶׁלֹּא יִתְוַדֶּה עַל זֶה.

^{Sefer HaḤinukh, Mitzvah 364 (1)} Regarding confession: One has to truly return the ill-gotten goods (חָמָס) in his hands, otherwise, it is better not to confess this.

In sum, Ne’ilah spells out what is entailed in Proverbs:

^{משלי כח:יג} מְכַסֶּה פְשָׁעָיו לֹא יַצְלִיחַ וּמוֹדֶה וְעֹזֵב יְרֻחָם.

^{Prov 28:13} One who covers up his misdeeds will not succeed; one who confesses and gives them up will attain mercy.