Jewish confession in traditional (Christian) society: Individual prayer and collective act - On mans conceptual relationship of the divine through contrition and expiation

The practice of "viddoui" or confession originated in the Old Testament. It is used at least since the time of the Talmud and is part of the current p ractices of contrition. Confession, contrition and expiation are notions th at bring people closer to an individual "return", ("teshuva"), to religion but the conception is usually taken to be Christian. This paper deals with the manner that these conceptions speak about a particular way of conceivin g man, viewed essentially through his relation to the divine. To confess on e's sin finds its place in the Jewish way of relating to God throughout the centuries, which has constantly been reevaluated within the framework of t he evolution of Judaism. The transformations affecting the elaboration and the representation of the notion of confession shed light on the movement o f ideas that go to the source of the ultimate separation between Christiani ty and Judaism. Both religions have retained identifiable elements that are similar although the meaning of contrition remains different.