Confession in Judaism

The meaning of vidui

In Judaism, vidui is the step in atonement where a person tells God what they have done wrong. Confession on its own does not wipe the slate clean; the sources place it inside teshuvah, the turning or repentance that can end in forgiveness. Sins between a person and God are confessed with nobody else listening, and the Talmud regards admitting them in front of another as disrespectful. A wrong done to another person is different: it may be said openly, and Maimonides calls that immensely praiseworthy.

Where it comes from

The noun vidui does not appear in the Hebrew Bible, but the idea of confession does, and the verb form of yadah, from which the word comes, is used for it. People in the Bible admitted their own sins, or the sins of their people, before asking for forgiveness. In the Temple, confession went with certain offerings for sin. One passage in Leviticus describes the people's wrongdoing being confessed over the head of the scapegoat, which then carried it away from the camp.

Short and long texts

Two confessions are in use. The short one is known by its opening word, Ashamnu, and gives one sin for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, twenty-four lines, with the last letter repeated three times. The long one, Al Chet, works the same way, but the prayer books of Saadia Gaon, Maimonides and the Yemenite rite keep only a few lines in no fixed order. Amram Gaon's prayer book, the Sephardic, Italian, Romaniote and medieval French rites, and early Ashkenazi manuscripts use a single acrostic; later Ashkenazi prayer books use a double one. The alphabet is said to help memory, to widen the list of sins, and to stand for every sin that might be committed.

Music and mood

Both confessions are chanted rather than simply spoken. The melody is fairly cheerful, and in the Ashkenazi tradition it resembles the tune used for the Song at the Red Sea. A listener might expect mourning for sin, yet an uplifting tune runs through all Jewish traditions. One explanation offered is that confessing rouses the worshipper to a mood of victory and hope about a future nobody can predict. Another is that the sins, once named and regretted, are turned into merits.

The deathbed confession

The Talmud says a person whose illness puts their life in danger is told to confess, since all who are sentenced to death confess. Masechet Semachot gives the words used with someone nearing death, and adds that many who confessed did not die, while many who never confessed did. The Shulchan Aruch sets out a text for the terminally ill, with a short version for those too weak for the longer one. Afterwards the sick person is encouraged to say the Shema, accept the Thirteen Principles of Faith, and give to charity.

How Confession in Judaism is kept

Confession is personal, and it also has a place in public prayer. Within Tachanun, the daily supplications, the short text follows the Amidah in Nusach Sefard and in most Sephardic rites apart from the Spanish and Portuguese. On Yom Kippur and through Selichot every community says it. The worshipper stands, bows the head, and strikes the heart at each sin; the prayer leader repeats the words aloud. Ashkenazi custom has a groom say the long confession before the wedding canopy, and a dying person, told to confess, may use a short form or the longer one.

When and where

The short text belongs to Tachanun, the daily supplications, in some rites, and is said again through Selichot. The long text is reserved for Yom Kippur, and in Ashkenazi practice a groom says it on his wedding day. A dying person may confess at any hour.

Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Yemenite, Italian, Romaniote and old French rites each keep their own wording and arrangement, as the prayer books of Amram Gaon, Saadia Gaon and Maimonides show. The practice belongs to Jewish communities wherever they pray, in the synagogue, at home, and at a sickbed.

What Confession in Judaism means

The confession is spoken in the plural, so one person's words stand for the whole people, and every sin listed is understood to have been committed by someone. The alphabet carries the list from first letter to last, a way of covering all that can be imagined and of prompting the memory. Standing bowed, with a hand on the heart, the worshipper names what is wrong and asks that the prayer be accepted.

Days Confession in Judaism is marked

Questions people ask about Confession in Judaism

See also

KaddishA Jewish hymn of sanctification recited during prayer services and mourning rituals.Torah readingThe public reading of the Torah scroll in synagogue, chanted to a special tuneKenduriA communal prayer meal and gathering shared across Indonesia, Malaysia and BruneiUma LulikSacred ancestral clan houses and ritual shrines in East Timor

Good reading and sources

• Confession (Judaism) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-09.