Al Chet 5

Exploring the Al Chet Prayer
Al Chet 5
by Rabbi Shraga Simmons

5. For the mistake we committed before You in public and in private.

Ask yourself:
Public:
Did I do foolish or degrading things to attract attention or approval?
On the other hand, did I do good deeds in public -- that I would otherwise not have done -- simply so that others would see me?

Private:
Did I act privately in a way that I would be ashamed if anyone found out?
Did I consider how God is watching even in my most private moments?
Did I convince myself that because nobody sees me, the mistakes somehow don't count?

Al Chet 5

The 44 Roots of Mistakes
by George Brock

5. For the mistakes made before You in public and in private....

Doing foolish or degrading things to attract attention or approval.
Doing good deeds in public that one would not have done had others not been watching.
Doing things in private I would be ashamed of if anyone found out.
The battle is fear.
The cause is that the fear of man and the fear of missing out has become greater than one’s fear of G-d.
The victory is to fear One! Fear no one.
Fear of others and the fear of missing out remind us to fear G-d.
Fear leads one away from contentment though it promises just the opposite through its lust and evil desires.
Only through Teshuvah can one overcome his forbidden lusts and desires.
The goal is that one can pass though one’s “darkness”- the mistakes made before G-d, in public, and in private - when one realizes one has made his own path.
Is it not better to seek the light one has been given than the darkness one will create?
There is only one Torah yet is it not the light that reveals the path each man must follow.
It is one’s choice, not chance, that determines one’s destiny.
I must remember it is the righteous man’s faith that becomes his strength and his obedience that becomes his power – not so with the wicked man whose faith becomes his weakness and whose disobedience leaves him powerless.