Even when we regret our improper behavior and resolve to change our ways, it is sometimes very hard for us to take the necessary steps. Confession, which is a central element of the Yom Kippur prayers, makes this possible. When we openly admit that we have erred, we are able to stand before God and to embark on a new path.

The problem: The disparity between how one feels on the inside and what he expresses on the outside:

At times one knows beyond any doubt that he has sinned and strayed from his life’s purpose, because he has betrayed all his values. He knows why, but he is not prepared to say it openly or to hear it from others [like in the talmudic expression]: “Anyone who says…will be stabbed” (Ketubot 104a). In his bed at night he thinks of it, and his soul cries in secret, but in the light of day, in the eyes of others, he is happy and content. In order to cover up the truth that is eating away at his soul, he continues to sin, increases his pace, and keeps charging toward the precipice.

The solution: To explicitly state the difficult reality:

Confession compels a person to recognize, through tremendous suffering, the simple facts, and to articulate the truth as it is clearly. This involves a kind of sacrifice, a kind of breaking of one’s will, and a painful action that is contrary to nature. It involves not only regret, but also shame. “You have taught us, Lord our God, to confess before You all our iniquities” (Ne’ila prayer), to look the truth straight in the eye, face-to-face, to really look; to break down our defense mechanisms; to shatter the artificial barriers; to go against human nature, which tells us to conceal ourselves; to tear up our masks; to determine with our lips that which our hearts had previously determined. All this is so that: “We may end the oppression that is performed by our hands,” and subsequently: “That you may receive us back in perfect repentance before You, like burnt offerings and their sweet savor.” Just as an offering is burned on the altar, so too, through the act of confession, we burn our well-guarded serenity, our meticulously maintained pride, our artificial existence. Then, and only then: “Before the Lord you shall be purified” (Leviticus 16:30). (Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, Al HaTeshuva, pp. 61ff)

Further reading: For more on the confession that we say on Yom Kippur, see A Concise Guide to the Sages, p. 287; A Concise Guide to Halakha, p. 170.

One year, on Yom Kippur, the Ba’al Shem Tov saw that there was a severe decree against a particular Jewish town. He endeavored with all his might to reverse the decree through his prayers, but to no avail. When they came to the Ne’ila prayer and the decree was still in force, the Ba’al Shem Tov was very grave, and he sobbed with great intensity, as did all his holy followers and all the others praying in his study hall.

There was a Jewish youth, an uneducated shepherd, who had come to the synagogue for the Yom Kippur services. While everyone had been praying, he merely stood and stared into space. But during Ne’ila, when everyone began wailing from the depths of their hearts in prayer to the Master of the Universe, his heart stirred, and a strong desire to pray was ignited in his soul. For a long time he had marveled at the call of the rooster, and now, before he knew it, a resounding cry suddenly emerged from his lips: “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Master of the Universe, have mercy!”

There was a commotion in the study hall, and some of the worshippers wanted to throw the ignorant villager out, but suddenly a joyful tune was heard from the Ba’al Shem Tov, and he quickly finished the prayers, his holy face shining with exultation.

When the holy day came to an end, the Ba’al Shem Tov told his followers that an accusation had been voiced against the residents of the town, who lived among gentiles and distanced themselves from the Holy One, blessed be He. But when the pure cry of the villager, whose soul had spilled over in prayer to the Master of the Universe, was heard, this cry caused delight in the highest heights and nullified all the decrees.

I desire to live, because in the World to Come there are no Days of Awe, and what would the soul of a Jew do without Yom Kippur? What is the point of living without repentance? (Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg)

In the Ne’ila prayer, the yehida aspect of the soul, which is unified with God, is revealed, and at that time there is place for nothing but God and the Jewish people. (The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

If Yom Kippur were given to us only once every seventy years, and we knew that the day on which all our sins are forgiven was approaching, how great would our joy be! Now, since Yom Kippur comes every year, our joy should be more than seven times greater! (Rabbi Yisrael Salanter)

Further reading: For more on the holiness of simple Jews, see p. 226.

Further reading: For more on the festival of Sukkot, see A Concise Guide to the Torah, pp. 318, 472; A Concise Guide to the Sages, p. 290; A Concise Guide to Halakha, pp. 176ff.