The Text of Final Confessional Prayer: Viddui

Translated by Rabbi Amy Eilberg

Excerpted with permission from Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying, Bury the Dead, and Mourn as a Jew (Schocken Books).

 

My God and God of my fathers and mothers

May my prayer come before You.

Do not ignore my plea.

 

Please, forgive me for all of the sins

That I sinned before You throughout my lifetime.

I am ashamed of deeds that I have committed.

I regret things that I have done.

 

Now, O God, take my pain and suffering as atonement.

Forgive my mistakes, for against You have I sinned.

May it be Your will, Adonai, my God and God of my ancestors

That I sin no more.

 

In Your great mercy, cleanse me of the sins I have committed

But not through suffering and disease.

Send me a complete healing along with all those who are ill.

 

I acknowledge before You, Adonai my God and God of my ancestors,

That my healing and my death are in Your hands.

May it be Your will to grant me a complete healing.

 

If it be Your will that I am to die of this illness,

Let my death be atonement for all the wrongs that I have done in my life.

Shelter me in the shadow of Your wings.

Grant me a place in the world to come.

 

Parent of orphans and Guardian of widows

Protect my dear ones,

With whose souls my soul is bound.

Into your hand I place my soul.

You have redeemed me, O God of truth.

 

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad.

Hear O Israel, The Lord our God, The Lord is One.

Adonai Hu Ha'Elohim. Adonai Hu Ha'Elohim.

Adonai is God. Adonai is God.

 

Rabbi Amy Eilberg was the first woman ordained as a Conservative rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Nationally known as a leader of the Jewish healing movement, she lectures and writes on issues of Jewish spirituality and healing. She currently serves as a pastoral counselor and spiritual director in private practice in Palo Alto, California.