Salachti: Forgiveness is There, Right From the Start
Every fall, Jewish students arrive on campus for the new academic year and the High Holidays, carrying pieces of home with them.
For first-year students, that might mean stepping into a Hillel for the first time and wondering whether the High Holiday melodies will sound familiar, whether the food will taste right, or whether anyone in the room will know their name. Returning students may be coming back to friends and traditions they already love, while also discovering that another year on campus feels different than the ones that came before.
Navigating new experiences and changing seasons can feel especially intensive around the High Holidays. Students come to me regularly carrying guilt about not showing up for Shabbat or the latest barbecue — they’re struggling to balance all the things they’re carrying.
But Yom Kippur offers a powerful reminder about what it means to navigate those life changes within a supportive, loving community.
Many communities and congregations spend time and attention on Kol Nidrei, the prayer that opens Yom Kippur. But one of the lines that moves me most, especially when I think about the experience of my students celebrating Yom Kippur, comes shortly afterward. We recite words from the Torah in which God says, “I have forgiven,” or salachti.
The words come right at the beginning of this solemn day. We have barely started fasting. We have not yet made it through hours of prayer, reflection, and confession. And already, forgiveness is there. God models a love for us that does not ask for perfection, but rather asks us to grow. It asks us to show love through action, commitment, and an openness to the possibility of change and closeness with God.
To me, that is one of the most foundational messages of Yom Kippur: We do not have to perform the day perfectly for it to matter. We do not have to say every word correctly or know every tune. We do not have to arrive as finished versions of ourselves. We are allowed to show up ready to adapt, adjust, and grow. And there will be space for us to do that work.
That can be an important message for students beginning a new year on campus, too.
Jewish life at college may not look exactly like Jewish life at home. You may find new questions, new traditions that stretch you and challenge you into molding a Jewish life and path for yourself. You may find yourself asking for forgiveness — from your friends and from yourself as you let go of old patterns and work toward new ideas.
At Hillel, I always say to my students that every moment when they show up holds value. We have learned together that the space and love for trying new things, making mistakes, and trying again is always already there. Salachti. You are always, already enough.
Rav Ezra is the Rabbi of the Luba & Bernard Friedman Base Loop of Metro Chicago Hillel.