The next berakhah in Shemoneh Esrei begins, “סְלַח לָנוּ אָבִינוּ כִּי חָטָאנוּ מְחַל לָנוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ כִּי פָשָׁעְנוּ – Selach us our Father because we erred, Mechal us our King because we sinned.”

In case you’re wondering why I didn’t translate Selach and Mechal, it’s because this post is about the question of how to define these similar words.

In contrast, there is little discussion about chatanu and the root Cheit in contrast to fashanu and Pesha. Cheit is also used to describe marksmanship, it simply means “to miss the mark”. Whereas Pesha discusses intent and has connotations of rebellion. E.g. in Melachim II 1:1, Moav rebels against being a vassal state of Israel, and it is described as “וַיִּפְשַׁ֤ע מוֹאָב֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל”.

Which also explains why we call Hashem our Father when discussing Cheit and our King when discussing Pesha. We pair Father, the term for our relationship that implies closeness, when the sin is an error, and King — the term which implies distance, when describing our own behavior as more distant, an act of resistance.

But in Vidui on Yom Kippur, there is a third term — “סְלַח לָֽנוּ. מְחַל לָֽנוּ. כַּפֶּר לָֽנוּ”. Why is Kaparah missing here?

In general, there is a dispute about how to understand that series. But my take follows Abarbanel*, who understands the sequence is from lesser level of forgiveness to greater: Selach is to refrain from punishing. Mechal is to heal the relationship, to let go of resentment. And Kaparah is to remove the effects of the sin. Note that in the verse the Kohein Gadol recites on Yom Kippur, Kaparah is paired with Taharah. “כִּי בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם לְטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם — because on this day, He will give Kaparah on you to make you Tahor.”

The Abarbanel’s understanding of Kaparah is arguably what we just asked for in the previous berakhah, “Hashiveinu Avinu leSorasekha — Return us, our Father, to Your Torah”. Removing the effects the sin had on us. That berakhah has no mention of sin, only of restoration and Teshuvah (return).

In Vidui, we desperately beg for whatever we can get — whether the just having debt pardoned, regaining His accessibility again as our Father, or best, Kaparah which will lead to the other two as well.

But the berakhos of Shemoneh Esrei are organized by cause and effect. Once healed, there is no debt to be repaid, and no reason for Hashem to stay distant. So Kaparah comes first.

Altogether, the three berakhos of personal spirituality can be taken in the usual pattern of Space, Restoration and Fulfillment.

• We pray that Hashem gives us the wisdom to know how to think and how to make proper decisions. This asks for the space in which that spirituality plays out.
• Then we ask for restoration of our selves back to the Torah and avodas Hasheim. And last
• In this berakhah we ask that the restoration plays out to completion. Once Hashem leads us to where we can return to the path that He laid for us, we can ask Him for the secondary effects of that mess as well.

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* The rishon‘s real name was Rav Don (“Sir”) Yitchaq Abravanel. But I am sticking to the common pronunciation rather than the historically accurate one.