You Pray Not for Yourself Alone but All

A poem for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, about the communal dimension of sin: You pray not for yourself alone but all. One never chooses sin in isolation. Most evil is not merely personal. Kindness looks for common inspiration. In every act there is community. Perhaps one would prefer it were not so. Placing each's guilt on all may be Unfair, but then each righteous soul must see Reflections of itself in every woe. © by Nicholas Gordon To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/youpra.html. For more poems about the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html . To receive an email from me each week via medium.com, go to https://medium.com/subscribe/@nickgo_89269 .