Vidui (confessional prayer)

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Vidui is the Jewish confessional prayer in which a person verbally acknowledges sins and seeks forgiveness, especially emphasized during the High Holy Days.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Jewish prayer
confessional prayer
penitential prayer
addressedTo God
associatedBook Machzor (High Holy Day prayer book)
Siddur (daily prayer book, some rites)
associatedConcept High Holy Day Machzor
Yom Kippur liturgy
atonement
teshuva (repentance)
component Al Chet (For the sin… litany)
Ashamnu (alphabetical acrostic confession)
denominationalUse Conservative Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Reform Judaism
other non‑Orthodox Jewish movements
gesture lightly striking the chest for each sin (in many customs)
halakhicStatus part of the mitzvah of teshuva according to many authorities
liturgicalContext High Holy Days
Rosh Hashanah (some communities)
Yom Kippur
daily prayers (some rites)
deathbed confession
mode verbal confession
practice recited communally
recited in first person plural
recited individually
primaryLanguage Hebrew
purpose confession of sins
seeking divine forgiveness
spiritual repentance
rabbinicSource Talmudic discussions of verbal confession
religiousTradition Judaism
structure alphabetical acrostic (in Ashamnu)
list of specific sins
textualSource medieval Jewish liturgical tradition
theme acknowledgment of wrongdoing
collective responsibility for sin
commitment to change behavior
request for mercy
theologicalBasis biblical and rabbinic teachings on confession
timeOfRecitation Mincha on Erev Yom Kippur (in many rites)
before death when possible
multiple times during Yom Kippur services
variantForms Ashkenazi rite versions
Sephardi rite versions
Yemenite rite versions
modern liberal liturgical adaptations

Referenced by (3)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Al Chet ("Yom Kippur confession")
associatedConcept
Aseret Yemei Teshuvah
associatedWith
Vidui (confessional prayer) ("Ashamnu (alphabetical acrostic confession)")
component

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