Confession in Judaism - Al Cheyt, The Long Confession

Al Cheyt, The Long Confession

The elongated confession which includes the Al Cheyt (or Al Hayt) ("... עֵל חֵטְא"), ("For the sin ..."), a double acrostic in the Ashkenaz liturgy (a single acrostic in Sefardic liturgy), is said only on Yom Kippur.

Each line begins "For the sin we committed before You through ..." (על חטא שחטאנוּ לפניך בּ־); the prefix בּ־ meaning "through" or "by means of", and the rest of that word is in alphabetic sequence; בּאנם (compulsion), בּבלי (ignorance), בּגלױ (publicly), בדעת וּבמרמה (knowingly and deceitfully), etc. and ends with בּתמהון יד (by what is held in the hand, using a term found in Leviticus 5:21). This is then followed by a non-acrostic list whose lines begin "And for the sin for which we are" - here naming the temple offering or the punishment (including lashing and death) that might be imposed. And concluding with a brief categorization of sins (such as the violation of a positive commandment, or of a negative commandment, or whether the sin can or cannot be remedied, as well as those we do not remember committing). Although the text varies among the different liturgical traditions, it follows this general pattern.

With reference to the Ashkenaz text, it has been said, "Classifying the sins specified herein, we are struck by the fact that out of the 44 statements that make up the Al Cheyt, twelve deal with sins rooted in speech (five in Ashamnu). Only four statements relate to transgressions committed by man against God in the strict sense (only two in the Ashamnu text). Dominating both confessional texts are general expressions of sin (fifteen in Al Cheyt and seventeen in Ashamnu)."