עַל חֵטְא For the sin: It is a custom to confess sins as part of the Afternoon Service before Yom Kippur so as to enter the holy of holies of Jewish time in the appropriate mood of penitence. Confession is an essential element of teshuva, “repentance,” and according to Maimonides, its biblical source. God forgives our wrongs, but only if we acknowledge them as wrongs. The two forms of confession, Ashamnu, “We have been guilty” and Al ḥet, “For the sin,” are both arranged as alphabetical acrostics, as if to say, we confess with every letter of the alphabet and for every possible transgression. Divine forgiveness makes it possible for us to admit our failings and engage in moral and spiritual growth, defeating the rationalizations and self-justifications that may otherwise imprison people in their past and their shortcomings.