Casting Away Our Sins (Tashlich)
A story is told: Late in the evening of the second day of Rosh Hashanah, I
was walking my dog with a regular dog-walking companion who is not Jewish. He
remarked: "Late this afternoon, as I was getting off the West Side Highway, I
saw hundreds of people—I think they were Jewish—assembled by the edge of the
Hudson River. They were throwing things into the river. Do you know what they
were doing?" I laughed, thinking to myself, how would I explain tashlich,
the ritual of casting our sins away? But with my laughter came pleasure, for my
friend had noticed my community engaged in this most amazing ritual.
Meditation
On this Day of Judgement, I take account of my life and relationships during
the last year. Of some things I am proud, of others disappointed or ashamed. I
resolve myself to strengthen and sustain the many mitzvahs I have performed—love
in relationships, honesty in business, engagement in the repair of the world.
And I resolve myself to cast off the blemishes—those actions or words that I
regret. Help me to preserve the good and to cast off the bad. Judge me for life
in a year of goodness and blessing.
Ritual
On the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah (the second day, if the
first day falls on Shabbat), we go to a body of water and cast away our sins
symbolically by reaching into our pockets and throwing out breadcrumbs.
You may choose, before Rosh Hashanah, to write down on slips of paper things
you have done or said in the past year that you now regret. On Rosh Hashanah,
bring these slips of paper in your pocket and cast them into the water, saying,
"In this act, I resolve to cast away, to the best of my ability, my regrets."
Blessing
(Before casting out your "sins")
May you cast out all the sins of your people Israel into a place where
they will not be remembered, nor counted nor ever again be minded.
Blessed be You, who grants me the discernment to distinguish between good
and bad.
Teaching
You shall cast out our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19)
Yom Kippur atones only for transgressions between human beings and God. For
transgressions between one individual and another, atonement is achieved only by
reconciling the person who has been offended. (Mishnah Yoma 8:9)
"Inasmuch as the world is judged in accordance with the majority of its
deeds, and the individual is judged in accordance with the majority of his
deeds, if he performs one mitzvah, happy is he, for he has tipped his scales and
the scales of the world toward merit. If he commits one sin, woe unto him, for
he has tipped the scales toward sinfulness for himself and for the world." (Babylonian
Talmud, Kiddushin 40 a-b)
When one forgets the essence of one’s own soul, when one distracts one’s mind
from attending to the substantive content of one’s own inner life, everything
becomes confused and uncertain. The primary role of penitence, which at once
sheds light on the darkened zone, is for one to return to oneself, to the root
of one’s soul. Then one will at once return to God, the Soul of all souls. (Avraham
Isaac Kook, The Lights of Penitence)
What should we be throwing into the water? Rabbi Dick Israel originated these
tongue-in-cheek suggestions:
For ordinary sins, use White bread
For exotic sins—French or Italian bread
For dark sins—Pumpernickle
For complex sins—Multi-grain
For truly warped sins—Pretzels
For sins of Indecision—Waffles
For being ill-tempered—Sourdough
For excessive use of irony—Rye bread
For continual bad jokes—Corn bread
For hardening our heart—Jelly doughnuts
V’tashlich bimtzulot yam kol chatotam
You shall cast out our sins into the depths of the sea
(CLAL Faculty)
