Earlier this week, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin z"l gave an interview to Israel's Channel 12 news and spoke to a central theme of Yom Kippur which begins tonight - Tshuvah, asking for forgiveness - by saying:

"To all the politicians who chose not to save the six hostages, and after they were murdered, asked to come to Hersh's shiva – do not ask me for forgiveness. You now have 101 opportunities to repent and act differently!"

We tend to think about atonement and forgiveness as something solely in the past - that we must apologize for something that has already happened. But as Rachel Goldberg-Polin notes, that is only one part of it.

Without also considering how we right the wrongs we've committed in the past year, we are only doing half of the work - and it's the half that is easiest. It is the half that requires of us merely words, and not action.

To change our behaviour, to make different choices to ensure that we not only take responsibility for our mistakes, but prevent the same mistakes from occurring in the future is where the hard work is.

This may be most evident, as Goldberg-Polin points out, in the tragic story of the abandonment of the hostages. We also see it in Netanyahu's attempt to shift focus from the issue altogether, to malign hostage families, and to instead shift the focus of the Israeli public toward Lebanon and Iran.

But Yom Kippur isn't for telling others what they must apologize for or how they have erred - on Yom Kippur we must look inward and self-reflect on our actions and behaviours.

When we see an ever-expanding war, hostages abandoned in Gaza for over a year, the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, displaced Israelis from the north and the south, and continuing settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where must our actions reflect our desire to not have only remorse but to also do better in the year to come?

At a time when hate and divisiveness are rising at home, it feels more difficult than ever to take action and speak up boldly against the actions of Israel's government. 

But, just like the central observance of Yom Kippur itself, our focus is meant to be on our own actions, not the actions of others.

This is difficult in personal atonement because it is uncomfortable to admit where we are wrong, and it is easier to cast blame on others, and it is difficult when examining our collective peoplehood because it is uncomfortable to engage in critiques that we fear may harm us.

But in both of these practices, there is far more benefit than risk - when we atone for our personal sins, we can grow, learn, and as a result, improve relationships with both others and ourselves. When we atone collectively, we get to make sense of our peoplehood, who we are, and who we strive to be.

By doing so, we also claim authority over our past regressions, we can determine how best to move forward, and we can take the action needed to rectify wrong, rather than leaving it in the hands of those without the personal stake that we have.

We have agency - to fight for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, for an end to this war and a path to peace, for an end to the suffering of so many innocents. 

This year, let us not only be sealed into the book of life but by doing so, let us also hold onto what makes life worth living - our humanity.