On the Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur we spend an entire 24 hour period, praying and thinking about all of the different transgressions we have committed in the previous year. We have spent the previous 10 days since the holiday of Rosh Hashanah speaking to others whom we have done wrong to ask forgiveness from them and it culminates with Yom Kippur when we now ask God to forgive us. Personally, I have often found this holiday to be a cleansing one and usually treat the time of the year with the seriousness I believe it deserves.
A couple of years ago, I got a copy of a wonderful different kind of a prayer from the traditional “Al Chet” prayer which specifically forces us to confront the things we have done wrong by listing several options in full detail. Author and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin created a similar list only his is called for the Mitzvah We Have Performed. This year, I pulled out my worn copy and was pleased to read the mitzvahs. I felt a special connection to them and also that this year I had indeed accomplished many of them. I also enjoyed picking up a new one that I have since acted on a couple of times. It was for the mitzvah we performed when we heard an ambulance siren and offered a prayer to God on behalf of the sick person inside.
I hope you will find many mitzvahs to perform this year as well.
1,000 Mitzvahs 