Al Chet 16

Category: Al Chet (Confession)

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Exploring the Al Chet Prayer
Rabbi Shraga Simmons

16. For the mistakes we committed before You through desecrating God's name.
As a Noahide of the Nations, everybody is a messenger of God in this world, responsible to project a positive image.

Ask yourself:
Did I ever act in a way that brought less honor and respect to God?
Did I ever act in way that gave a bad impression about what it means to be a Noahide?
Did I take every opportunity to enlighten others about the beauty of Torah?

Al Chet # 16
44 Roots of Mistakes
by George Brock

The Sin:   The Mistakes committed before You through desecrating G-d's name.

• Did I ever act in a way that brought less honor and respect to G-d?
• Did I act in a way that gave a bad impression about; what it means to be a Noahide?
• Did I take every opportunity to enlighten others about the beauty of the Torah?

The Cause:   Arrogance {vs} Humility.

• Good {vs} Bad impressions.
• Darkness {vs} Light.

The Battle:   Is to begin, with the end in mind.

• Most people begin with little thought of what G-d want's the outcome to be.
• The only way to make sure one has made the right choice; is to clearly define G-d's desired outcome, and remain focused on it.
• That is beginning with the end in mind.
• It is simple; One must change one's focus to change one's results.
• One must break down desecrating G-d's name into something measurable to get the desired outcome.

The Victory:   One must train oneself to live in the moment and to honor God with all of one's thoughts, words and actions.

• It takes discipline and T'shuvah to achieve the victory.

The Goal:   Is to understand when one is struggling with doing the right thing, one can be compared to to a flame struggling to survive. What should one do?

Free the flame from it's own wax (going into darkness) or add more wax to save the flame (staying in the light).

“ If one will live in the moment with Torah (thoughts, words and actions) One would live in the present and when the future comes; one will be ready for it. He will react with the right (thoughts, words and actions) and overcome the sin of desecrating G-d's name”.