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Singing Confessions

On Yom Kippur, while we say אשמנו, בגדנו...; we have become guilty, we have betrayed…, we sing it to a tune. If one were to enter court, would he sing his sins? So, why do we recite this in a tune?

The Gemara says the Shofar is blown when we sit and again when we stand כדי לערבב השטן; to confuse the Satan.[1] Rashi explains that the Satan is unable to prosecute, as he is confounded when he hears how we hold Hashem’s Mitzvos so beloved. R’ Akiva Eiger (1761-1837) asks that just because the Mitzvos are beloved to us, that is why he doesn’t say over our sins?

The Gemara teaches that זדונות נעשו כזכיות; through Teshuva out of love, willful sins are counted as merits.[2] This is what Rashi means- once the Satan will see that the Mitzvos are beloved by us, as we do it in a loving way, so he is scared to relate our sins since for each sin he says, it will increase our merits and Mitzvos.

Rabbi Alt merited to learn under the tutelage of R’ Mordechai Friedlander Ztz”l for close to five years. He received Semicha from R’ Zalman Nechemia Goldberg. Rabbi Alt has written on numerous topics for various websites and publications. He lives with his wife and family in a suburb of Yerushalayim where he studies, writes and teaches. The author is passionate about teaching Jews of all levels of observance.