Jesse Jacobs has created an apology hotline that makes it possible to apologize without actually talking to the person you’ve wronged. People who are unable or unwilling to unburden their conscience in person call the hotline and leave a message on an answering machine. Each week, 30 to 50 calls are logged, as people apologize for things from adultery to embezzlement. “The hotline offers participants a chance to alleviate their guilt and, to some degree, to own up to their misdeeds,” said Jacobs.
The apology hotline may seem to offer some relief from guilt, but this is not how Judaism teaches us how to handle conflict. The Mishnah in tractate Yoma describes two kinds of relationships, the relationship between human beings and the Holy One Blessed be He and the relationship between two human beings, when comes to Yom Kippur. “Furthermore, for transgressions between a person and God, Yom Kippur atones; however, for transgressions between a person and another, Yom Kippur does not atone until he appeases the other person.” (Sefaria.org translation) the Gemara goes on that we should be reconciled with one another, eagerly, aggressively, quickly, and personally.
Are any of your relationships broken or estranged because of
something you said or did? Take the initiative before or during Yom Kippur. Go
and do all you can to be reconciled.
May you have a meaningful fast.
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