The Deeper Legacy of Teddy Kennedy

As the Jewish Community prepares for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur, we are asked to take a serious inventory of our behavior--our virtues and flaws, our triumphs and moral failures. Yom Kippur is sometimes called the Day of Atonement. Its purpose is not to wallow in failure or sin, not simply to feel guilty. Just the opposite. The purpose is to find spiritual healing. Atonement is made up of the words "At-one-ment." We try to take our own hurting and broken selves and become, not holy but whole.

We understand, along with our Christian friends, that we must not stop our lives because of past bad acts. We believe in the ability to repent and find redemption. The first rule of both theology and psychology is the same: Not even God can change the past.

So, what do we do? In Hebrew the word for repentance is Tchuvah, meaning to turn or return to our truest and best selves. Repentance in Greek is Metanoia. It means literally a change of mind. Our own metaphor would be a change of heart, a change that is deep and profound and not just embarrassment for having been found out.