Title: Vidui: Achieving Greatness
By: Rav Simcha Leib Weinberg
Partners In Prayer
I had the fortune to be given the assignment to review a new sefer entitled Vidui: Achieving Greatness by Rav Simcha Leib Weinberg.
I was taken aback by the title. Normally one does not think of the Vidui prayer, which literally means “to confess,” as something which is positioned toward achieving greatness. As Vidui is a list of a person’s sins, recited 10 times on Yom Kippur, we normally associate it with smallness, the failures of mankind and their foibles. Man is laid low, their defenses down, and their moral trespass laid bare. There is nowhere to hide, and we are embarrassed.
Therefore this sefer comes as a breath of fresh air. Rambam (Laws of Teshuvah 1:1) expresses that Vidui is one of the essentials of teshuvah. Teshuvah, our return home, to the Master of the world, and to ourselves, is a path to greatness. Rav Weinberg tells us that our path needs to be paved with direction on how to use what seems as a litany of abstract synonyms for sins, and to transform it into a guide for self-growth.
Each word of the Vidui is teased apart, with possible ways that we have stumbled, making each of the words pointedly meaningful. However, Rav Weinberg does not leave us feeling lacking. With each entry, he helps to instruct us how we can go about repairing our mistakes, be they between each of us and our fellow, between us and G-d, or between us and ourselves.
Rav Weinberg cites his father, Rav Yaakov Weinberg, zt”l, the venerated rosh yeshiva of Ner Yisrael in Baltimore, that as much as the word “Vidui” means admission of guilt, it also means an admission of thanks to Hakadosh Boruch Hu for all that I have been able to accomplish, with His empowering assistance. In the following section, he teaches us how to thank Hashem for all of the good we have done, and then how we can build upon it.
Rav Weinberg adds sections as well on how to use “Baruch shem kvod malchuso l’olam vaed” (the silent, second line of Shema, which is declared on Yom Kippur as loud as the first line), as a tool for our growth on the day.
Finally, the sefer concludes with a guide of practical ideas and advice on how a person can keep Yom Kippur’s inspiration going.
Rav Weinberg has a knack for expressing concepts in Jewish thought (machshava), mussar and chassiuds in a simple yet compelling way. Each page is laid out in a user friendly way, inviting thought, questions, and reflection. The sefer as a whole takes a topic which can be intense and intimidating and, instead, creates a welcoming guide for all readers, no matter their educational background.
