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very year during the 
High Holidays, Jews 
recite a litany of ways 
we have fallen short in a 
confessional 
prayer. Known 
as a viddui, 
the prayer is a 
centerpiece of 
our Yom Kippur 
liturgy.
This year, 
we again will 
reflect on our 
shortcomings. 
But one 
takeaway from 
the past year is 
that even when 
we do our best, 
it may not be 

enough.
So many of us joyously 
awaited the return to 
in-person High Holiday 
services, only to have our 
plans undermined by the 
threat posed by the Delta 
variant of COVID-19. 
Against this backdrop, 
we recognized that our 
community would benefit 
from a communal expression 
of encouragement, comfort 
and balance. 
So, together we crafted 
a positive viddui for our 
congregation that we are 
sharing here. 
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak 
HaCohen Kook, the first 
Ashkenazi chief rabbi of 

what would become Israel, 
once said that Jews should 
celebrate our good deeds as 
much as lament our sins. 
We hope you find this 
meaningful.
 
 We’ve acted authentically 
 We’ve blessed 
 We’ve cultivated compassion 
 We’ve delighted 
 We’ve engaged empathically 
 We’ve favored fairness 
 We’ve galvanized 
 We’ve harmonized 
 We’ve inspired 
 We’ve joined 
 We’ve kindled kindness 
 We’ve laughed 
 We’ve matured 
 We’ve nurtured 

 We’ve offered optimism 
 We’ve persevered 
 We’ve questioned 
 We’ve released 
 We’ve sympathized 
 We’ve tried 
 We’ve uplifted 
 We’ve vivified 
 We’ve welcomed 
 We’ve x’d out excess 
 We’ve yearned 
 We’ve zoomed and zoomed in

For all these, Source of Life 
inspire us, encourage us, 
sustain our hope. 

Rabbi Jillian Cameron and Cantor 

Juval Porat are clergy at Beth 

Chayim Chadashim, a Reform 

synagogue in Los Angeles.

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 9

a better, stronger agreement 
than the JCPOA. In order 
to achieve this, however, 
Washington should have 
continued increasing sanctions, 
as the Obama administration 
had done.
Instead, it appointed 
Robert Malley, an architect 
of the JCPOA, as U.S. special 
representative to Iran and lifted 
additional sanctions. This has 
served only to embolden and 
further radicalize the regime in 
Tehran.

AN EMBOLDENED IRAN
Indeed, Iran responded to the 
above U.S. actions by “electing” 
mass murderer in Ebrahim 
Raisi, Supreme Leader Ali 
Khamenei’s candidate, as 
president. Once instated in 
the role, Raisi appointed such 
figures as former IRGC chief 
Mohsen Rezaee — wanted 
by Interpol for the 1994 mass 
murder of 85 Argentinians at 
the Jewish community center 
(AMIA) in Buenos Aires — as 

vice president for economic 
affairs, and Gen. Ahmad 
Vahidi, also involved in the 
attack, as interior minister.
Meanwhile, the International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 
confirmed that Iran, for the first 
time, has produced uranium 
metal-enriched up to 20% and 
has significantly increased its 
production capacity of enriched 
uranium to 60%, both of which 
are prohibited as part of the 
JCPOA.
Germany, France and 
Britain — parties to the JCPOA 
— called the above moves 
“serious violations” of Iran’s 
commitment under the deal. 
They said that “both are key 
steps in the development of a 
nuclear weapon, and Iran has 
no credible civilian need for 
either measure.
”
The “concerns are deepened 
by the fact that Iran has 
significantly limited IAEA 
access through withdrawing 
from JCPOA-agreed 
monitoring arrangements,
” 

they added in a joint statement. 
What they did not do, however, 
is reinstate sanctions.
Describing the current 
situation to the foreign press, 
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair 
Lapid said, “Right now it seems 
like the agreement is not going 
anywhere and the talks are not 
going anywhere. The world 
needs a plan B, and Iran needs 
to know there is a credible 
threat on it if they will keep 
on advancing their nuclear 
program as they do now.
”
In an interview with 
Bloomberg TV on Sept. 3, 
Malley said that the United 
States is prepared to be patient 
with Iran about a return to 
the JCPOA, but “can’t wait 
forever.
” Isn’t it already obvious, 
as Lapid pointed out, that that 
“the agreement is not going 
anywhere, and a plan B is 
needed?”
Former Israeli Ambassador 
to the United States Ron 
Dermer has been more direct, 
stating that Iran will obtain 

nuclear weapons “if Israel 
doesn’t stop it.
”
At this point, it may be too 
late for sanctions to be effective, 
and that the only remaining 
option is a military one — 
for which Israel has been 
preparing. But not imposing 
sanctions immediately will 
guarantee that the military 
option is the only one left.
Biden announced that he 
would not withdraw troops 
from Afghanistan until all 
Americans were evacuated. 
He didn’t keep his promise. 
His assurances to Israel 
about Iran, then, cannot be 
counted on. Judging by the 
Afghanistan debacle, there are 
two possibilities: a nuclear Iran 
or a major Israeli strike on the 
Islamic Republic’s facilities. 

Farley Weiss, former president of the 
National Council of Young Israel, is an 
intellectual property attorney for the 
law firm of Weiss & Moy. The views 
expressed are the author’s and not 
necessarily representative of NCYI.

opinion
A Positive ‘Viddui’

Rabbi 
Jillian 
Cameron 
JTA

Cantor 
Juval Porat 
JTA

