I’m totally double dipping today. Sorry. I spaced it that today is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. I’m not Jewish, but I am fascinated by their faith, their culture, and their traditions. And this day is particularly important in the Jewish faith and it speaks to me in terms that I relate to my recovery.

According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person’s fate for the coming year into a “book” on Rosh Hashanah and waits until Yom Kippur to “seal” the verdict. During the Ten Days of Repentance, a Jew tries to amend his behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God (bein adam leMakom) and against his fellow man (bein adam lechavero). The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt (Vidui). At the end of Yom Kippur, one considers himself absolved by God.

The day preceding Yom Kippur is commemorated with two festive meals, the giving of charity, and asking others for forgiveness. But Yom Kippur is a day of fasting. A rabbi friend of mine says, “”By sundown on Yom Kippur, you see yourself as fragile and you have the proper frame of mind to really be honest with yourself. Even though we have BlackBerries and technology, human nature has not changed. It is very hard to take inventory of what we’ve done and how we can improve.”

One of the traditions that developed in the Middle Ages was for observant Jews to go out into the street or to a stream and empty the lint from their pockets. Emptying the lint symbolizes the times they missed the mark last year and the clean pockets represent the fresh start of a New Year.

I like that tradition because every time I feel lint in my pockets now, I remember that I have work to do on my 9th step; work I need to do to set myself right with the world and right with my Creator. And it reminds me of how wonderful it is to be be able to make amends for the times when I have missed the mark. That I have been given tools, spiritual principles which enable me to look the world in the eye.

Since I’m not Jewish I won’t be doing all the other important things that are important to this celebration, but because I am in recovery I will empty my pockets today and pray for the willingness to pull my 8th step list out and make amends for harms I have done, and clear away more of the things that block me from the sunlight of my Creator.

“May all the people of Israel be forgiven, including all the strangers who live in their midst, for all the people are in fault.”