Electronic Al Chet

Originally blogged Thursday, September 18, 2003 at 6:02 PM

One of the prayers Jews recite on Yom Kippur is called Al Chet (the "ch" is pronounced like the German or Scottish, and not as commonly found in English or Spanish) — "For the sin." It's an alphabetical recitation of sins we confess to, both for ourselves and on behalf of the entire Jewish people.

Several years back, I found a version by Mark Frydenberg which addresses some of the sins that I often feel most culpable for — those committed through online discourse. I've tried to add some or all of these during the silent meditations at the end of each recitation of the prayer (time willing), and found it to be helpful in inducing both mindfulness and peace of mind. And I can't help but wonder if others reading this might benefit as well. So, for all our sakes, and with sufficient time to print it out and bring it along to shul:

Al Chet
For the sin which we have committed by responding too often,
And for the sin which we have committed by not posting at all when we have something valuable to say;
For the sin which we have committed by responding angrily in haste,
And for the sin which we have committed by posting private email in a public forum;
For the sin which we have committed by misinterpreting others' words,
And for the sin which we have committed by not expressing ourselves clearly;
For the sin which we have committed by being sarcastic to other list members,
And for the sin which we have committed by not being tolerant of their positions;
For the sin which we have committed by not explaining technical terms,
And for the sin which we have committed by assuming others know as much as we do;
For the sin which we have committed by posting announcements directly,
And for the sin which we have committed by posting subscription commands to the list;
For the sin which we have committed by forwarding messages without introduction
And for the sin which we have committed by cross-posting our own messages to many other lists;
For the sin which we have committed by not using an appropriate subject line,
And for the sin which we have committed by having a long .signature file;
For the sin which we have committed by quoting others' posts in their entirety,
And for the sin which we have committed by not providing context to our replies;
For all of these, Forgiving One, Forgive Us, Pardon Us, and Grant Us Atonement.
© Mark Frydenberg, 1995, 1995, 1998 and 1999

Rereading it since I started blogging, it seems somewhat dated. These primarily refer to sins committed within mailing-lists, Usenet, and discussion boards. Blogging (including LiveJournal) is related but distinct. The older formats were communal space shared by all; blogs and journals are more like to personal spaces that have been opened up. Some of the above still apply, others less so, and there are still other common failings that haven't been mentioned.

I wonder if collectively we can't think of worthwhile updates that apply to blogging and LiveJournalling... I'm not talking about ways to improve your blog, but rather ways in which we harm other people (or the world) through blogging — actions that we might wish to repent, given the opportunity.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two that are not on the list above, and I would very much appreciate refinements and additions:

For the sin which we have committed by abusing others in their personal forums;
And for the sin which we have committed by denying attribution, links and proper credit;

Finally, readers who wish to give further thought to improving the quality of their own discourse along these lines may wish to look at the Words Can Heal Pledge.


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