The Ebenezer Scrooge model: Can Yom Kippur really bring repentance and change?
From Dickens’s Ebenezer Scrooge to modern psychology, the journey from remorse to lasting behavioral change reveals why Yom Kippur can be both a reckoning and a starting point.
After enduring a 25-hour fast during the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, synagogue-goers emerge drained, repentant, and possibly filled with trepidation. The shofar blasts reverberate through the soul, but a week later, do those same worshippers change their behavior for the better? While genuine repentance involves regret that leads to transformation, as Charles Dickens so poignantly depicted in his 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, can Yom Kippur truly bring about such change?
Unlike the fictional tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, who received a supernatural visitation from spirits urging him to alter his ways, Yom Kippur does not employ ghosts. Instead, it prompts introspection by asking individuals to confront their past selves and envision their potential future selves. While the ghosts provided Scrooge with vivid epiphanies of his miserable childhood, ruthless behavior, bleak fate, and neglected gravestone, Yom Kippur relies on a more subtle approach.
Psychologists posit that genuine repentance transcends mere remorse and demands a conscious decision to alter one's behavior. This process, akin to the psychological changes Scrooge underwent, involves recognizing one's mistakes, confronting them, experiencing an emotional awakening, and committing to a new course of action. The psychologist Mario Mikulincer posits that stress and fatigue can hinder one's ability to override habitual behavior, making the fast imposed on Yom Kippur particularly potent.
The act of listing one's transgressions during the Yom Kippur confessional, or viddui, forces individuals to bridge the gap between internal denial and objective reality. This collective confession, recited aloud in the plural, mirrors the brains' "executive function," which allows individuals to acknowledge their misdeeds and actively choose a different path. However, Mikulincer cautions against an overemphasis on shame, as it can lead to denial, addiction, and anger, thereby hindering personal growth.
Ultimately, while Yom Kippur may not employ supernatural ghosts, its collective and introspective nature, coupled with the physical toll of a 25-hour fast, can indeed prompt meaningful change in those who embrace its transformative potential.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
