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Bi-lingual Hebrew-Italian Vidui according to the custom of the Hevrat (society) Merapah le-Nefesh of Ferrara. The text consists of Hebrew and Italian on facing pages of the order of the Seder Viddui (order of confession) through p.21. It is followed, entirely in Hebrew, by a prayer to be said by the Eidah ha-Kiddushah and then Hateret Kellalot.
Confession of sins are most customarily associated with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). However, they also extend beyond the synagogal sphere and can be said by individuals during silent prayer and on diverse occasions. Confession, whether collective or individual, is always made directly to God and never through an intermediary, but some 16th-century kabbalist ascetics confessed sins to each other. The most important occasion for individual confession is on the deathbed. The Talmud advises that a person who is seriously ill should be exhorted to confess his sins (Shab. 32a), and a criminal about to be executed is also urged to confess. If he is unable to compose his own confession, he is prompted to say, "May my death be an expiation for all my sins" (Sanh. 6:2), and when he is too weak to recite the confession, it should be read to him (Shab. 32a). While no special form of deathbed confession existed in ancient times, a formula has become customary. The dying person, if he is still conscious and has the strength to do so, recites the Day of Atonement confession in the singular. A brief confession, formulated in the 13th century but which is of much earlier origin, is also recited (Hertz, Prayer, 1064). It is also customary for a bridegroom to recite the Day of Atonement confession at the afternoon service before his wedding, with the wedding day being considered a sort of judgment day for the bride and groom.
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