What are the Ten Days of Repentance?

According to the Jewish prayer book for the High Holidays (the machzor), “Repentance, prayer, and charity can avert the severity of the evil decree.” According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah, God opens up two books in heaven: the Book of Life, and the Book of Death. For the following ten days, each person has the opportunity to repent of bad deeds to ensure that his or her name is written in the Book of Life. At the end of the ten days comes the Day of Atonement, where the names are inscribed, and the decree is issued. These ten days are called the “Days of Repentance” because they are a somber season of soul-searching and humility.

The Need for Repentance

The Mishnah states that the Day of Atonement only atones for sins against God, and not for sins against other people, unless one first asks for forgiveness from the person who has been harmed. In Judaism, there is no such thing as private repentance. During these ten days of repentance, it is necessary to take initiative and make amends with those we have wronged.

At the culmination of these ten days is the Day of Atonement, when one must call to mind the sins one has committed in the last year. The confessions of the prayer Al Chet illustrate the repentance all Israel is searching for, as she recites the following:

For the sin which we have committed before You by hard-heartedness,

And for the sin which we have committed before You with immorality,

And for the sin which we have committed before You openly or secretly.

For all these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us.

Atonement According to Scripture

The Hebrew Scriptures clearly teach that God, ultimately, is the only one who can truly atone for us. David proclaims, “When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions” (Psalm 65:3). The Psalmist proclaims, God “will redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Psalm 130:8). This is a beautiful truth. However, if God is the one who atones for our sins, then he is the one who sets the ground rules for how atonement may be given.

The Torah teaches that the Day of Atonement atones for the sins of the entire nation of Israel. Leviticus 16 outlines the detailed instructions. Unfortunately, the procedures described there differ from those practiced in Judaism today. The Torah requires Israel’s high priest to sacrifice a bull, a ram, and two goats for his sins and the sins of the people. Moses said, “This shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins” (Leviticus 16:34). Unfortunately, because Israel no longer has a high priest or Temple, she can no longer follow this permanent statute.

Substitution for Sacrifices According to the Rabbis

The loss of these procedures after the destruction of the Temple left a vacuum in the atonement process. As a result, rabbis have offered many different solutions to fill the gap. When there is no Temple, the rabbinic sages said, prayer three times a day substitutes for sacrifices. Or perhaps God counts studying the laws about sacrifice as if one does the sacrifices. Or perhaps one can substitute for the sacrifices through personal suffering or by giving charity to the poor. Or God will overlook prior sins if we do better next time. All of these, and many more, have been proposed over the last two thousand years.

However, the most enduring solution to the loss of the Temple has been to emphasize the beauty and power of repentance—teshuvah. That is why the ten Days of Repentance are so important in Jewish life.

Substitution for Sacrifices According to the New Covenant

Believers in Yeshua can learn a great deal about repentance from the soul-searching practices in traditional Judaism. However, we do not need to be unsure about how we may be forgiven by God. We do not need to wonder whether we have prayed enough, repented enough, or given enough charity. Even the loss of the Temple and priesthood does not affect us. Why? Because our forgiveness is not dependent upon our own merits, or even the procedures of the Temple, but upon the perfect righteousness and sacrifice of Messiah. Yeshua is our High Priest, and he is the perfect sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. The New Testament proclaims that God “made him to be sin who knew no sin [Yeshua], so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

So, take some time this week to consider your sins, to repent of them before God, and to ask forgiveness from those whom you have sinned against. But, at the same time, rejoice, because your sins are no longer held against you if you have placed your trust in Messiah. For “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua” (Romans 8:1). He has taken our penalty, removed our guilt, and given us his righteousness in return. Praise be to God.