Al Chet 16

Exploring the Al Chet Prayer
Rabbi Shraga Simmons

16. For the mistakes we committed before You through desecrating God's name.
As a Noahide of the Nations, everybody is a messenger of God in this world, responsible to project a positive image.

Ask yourself:
Did I ever act in a way that brought less honor and respect to God?
Did I ever act in way that gave a bad impression about what it means to be a Noahide?
Did I take every opportunity to enlighten others about the beauty of Torah?

Al Chet # 16
44 Roots of Mistakes
by George Brock

The Sin: The Mistakes committed before You through desecrating G-d's name.

Did I ever act in a way that brought less honor and respect to G-d?
Did I act in a way that gave a bad impression about; what it means to be a Noahide?
Did I take every opportunity to enlighten others about the beauty of the Torah?

The Cause: Arrogance {vs} Humility.

Good {vs} Bad impressions.
Darkness {vs} Light.

The Battle: Is to begin, with the end in mind.

Most people begin with little thought of what G-d want's the outcome to be.
The only way to make sure one has made the right choice; is to clearly define G-d's desired outcome, and remain focused on it.
That is beginning with the end in mind.
It is simple; One must change one's focus to change one's results.
One must break down desecrating G-d's name into something measurable to get the desired outcome.

The Victory: One must train oneself to live in the moment and to honor God with all of one's thoughts, words and actions.

It takes discipline and T'shuvah to achieve the victory.

The Goal: Is to understand when one is struggling with doing the right thing, one can be compared to to a flame struggling to survive. What should one do?

Free the flame from it's own wax (going into darkness) or add more wax to save the flame (staying in the light).

“ If one will live in the moment with Torah (thoughts, words and actions) One would live in the present and when the future comes; one will be ready for it. He will react with the right (thoughts, words and actions) and overcome the sin of desecrating G-d's name”.