21st Century Judaism September 2015 | Page 4

Autobiography, Biography,

Fiction

Rituals are paradoxical in that they tend to obfuscate the concepts they are trying to convey.

This is keenly evident in the case of the High-Holy-Days where the compelling Jewish understanding of who the human being is

and the relationship with transcendence is made explicit.

The High Holy Days build up on five main concepts t:

self-examination,

sin,

guilt,

repentance and

forgiveness.