Our first request was for daat, the power to know what we want, because without that we cannot pray. Our second request was for teshuvah, the desire to return and reconnect with God—the root of all other requests. Now, in our third request, we ask for forgiveness and pardon, the first step on the journey of teshuvah. Our misbehavior has violated our relationship with God, and for this we need to ask forgiveness. However, our deliberate wrongdoings have also incurred consequences which need pardon. Unlike the first two requests for daat and teshuvah, here we make a case for our right to ask; we tell God that He should pardon and forgive us “because You are one who pardons and forgives.” This bold move indicates a change in stature, an added degree of empowerment. We feel more able to fulfill the purpose of the Amidah—to confidently stand in God’s presence and enjoy a personal loving relationship with Him. Forgive us, our Father, for we have misbehaved. As Your children, we are expected to act in a way that is honorable and becoming of You. When we do wrong, our actions reflect poorly on You. Although we are created in Your image, we have not acted accordingly and betrayed that privilege. We have been disrespectful and ungrateful; we have violated Your love for us. Pardon us, our King, for we have willfully sinned. We have not only done wrong but intentionally rebelled, and therefore also deserve to suffer serious consequences. We ask You as our Father to forgive us for betraying Your love and giving You a bad name. We also ask You to pardon us as our King, because we have caused damage to Your kingdom and should rightfully pay the penalty, but as our King You have the power to overrule any legal consequences we have incurred. We know that we can make these requests because You are one who pardons and forgives. This is who You are; this is what You do. Consider our wrongdoing as an opportunity for You to make manifest Your attributes of forgiveness and pardon. We are not asking You do it for our sake—we know we don’t deserve that. Rather, forgive and pardon us for Your sake, to reveal Yourself in the world. Our sins afford You the possibility to display Your power to forgive and pardon, to show us Your unconditional love. Blessed are You … O how bountiful and abundantly present You are in our lives. O what an ever-flowing wellspring of blessings You are to us, YHVH, Timeless Ultimate Reality, who graciously and abundantly forgives. The more we believe that God always seeks to forgives us, and the more we sincerely want His forgiveness, the more we will experience His loving, forgiving presence embracing and filling us.