We like to be right and proud. No one likes to feel guilty, to ask for forgiveness, to apologize. It's easy for us to convince ourselves that we are actually right, and even if we are not - it's not too bad, and in general, we don't need to feel too much remorse.
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It is precisely to this point that the recitation of the selichot is directed.
We, the proud and upright, suddenly stand with bowed heads and broken hearts and open the recitation of the Selichot with the declaration: "To you, O Lord, belong righteousness, and to us is shame.' In the silence of the night, we are forced to confess: "Neither by grace nor by deeds have we come before you; as poor and needy, we have knocked on your doors.".
The purifying absolutions
The very act of saying the selichot carries with it a certain degree of purification. The willingness to come to the selichot, to feel that I am 'wrong,' to admit that I have something to ask for forgiveness for – that itself greatly diminishes the spirit of pride and rudeness, and grants a soul's salvation.
This approach runs counter to the general spirit prevailing in modern society.
According to the conventional view, a person is supposed to be content with himself and strive for self-satisfaction. He must achieve the things that are supposed to make him satisfied. Judaism comes along and says: No, a person is not allowed to be content with himself.
The characteristic of "being happy with one's lot" is wonderful in everything related to the material world. The happier a person is with what he has and does not strive to accumulate more money and possessions - the greater his happiness. This is also true wealth ("Who is rich? He who is happy with one's lot"). But in everything related to spiritual possessions - Torah, good deeds, good virtues - here the characteristic of "being happy with one's lot" is a very bad characteristic.
In the spiritual world, the right and proper qualities are discontent and constant ambition. Without them, a person freezes in place and does not progress.
A Jew who serves God will never say, "Everything is fine with me." Such a feeling is a sure recipe for spiritual degeneration and loss of initiative and vitality. In the spiritual life, we must never be satisfied. As we progress and ascend, we should understand and feel how far we are from perfection and true spiritual ascension.
to change next year
Life in this world is a mission. We must accomplish tasks and achieve goals in our one hundred and twenty years of life.
It is natural, therefore, that when a year draws to a close, a feeling of anxiety passes through the heart: What is happening to me? A year has passed and what have I accomplished? The Jew takes stock of the past year, and comes to the conclusion that much, much more could have been done. And if it were possible - it should have been done. And if it were necessary - he must correct this and decide that next year he will make better use of his powers and possibilities.
This is the way a Jew prepares for Rosh Hashanah, and after such preparation, he enters the Day of Judgment with a cleaner soul, and in his heart firm resolutions to change and behave differently in the new year. All of this is accompanied by the confidence that God, the Almighty, does indeed accept our response and grants each and every one a good writing and signature for a good and sweet year, the year of true and complete redemption.
