A spiritual accounting

Here’s a news story you are not likely to see any time soon:

BEIRUT — The leadership of Hizbullah is expected to launch a thorough investigation into the Lebanon War, and experts say findings might shake up the organization and its military.

Public pressure forced a reluctant Sheik Hassan Nasrallah to appoint the investigative committee, which will examine how Hizbullah’s provocations invited a devastating response by a superior Israeli military, how the organization failed to gain the release of prisoners in Israeli jails, and how it targeted civilians and led Amnesty International to accuse the organization’s leadership of war crimes.

You get the idea. Let’s just say that, when it comes to running a theocratic terrorist organization, introspection is not a priority. Admit no mistakes, accept no regrets, except perhaps that you did not kill more Jews: That’s Hizbullah’s idea of a postmortem. That is the Islamist’s version of accountability.

In Israel, meanwhile, the guns had barely fallen silent before the public, the media, and the politicians demanded a thorough investigation into What Went Wrong. Ehud Olmert, as the duly elected prime minister, had no choice but to agree to what will certainly be a painful and even damning process. But Israel has been through this before, and its people know that the cost — and glory — of living in a robust democracy is that a country must be held accountable for its decisions.

That’s not only a democratic principle, but a Jewish one. This is the season of heshbon nefesh — a “spiritual accounting” through which Jews as individuals and members of a community take stock of their behavior over the year just past. Starting with the month of Elul, we’re all asked to appoint our own private commissions of inquiry, reminding ourselves of things we’d rather not be reminded of and taking responsibility for having hurt ourselves and others.

The “findings” are announced during the 10 Days of Awe bridging Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. And while some do not take literally the notion of God as the supreme judge, to take part in the process is to understand its power. “The theme of proclaiming God’s majesty and judgment on Rosh Hashana,” writes Rabbi David Hartman, “implies that no human being or human institution — be it family, community, or nation-state — is above judgment. In a world infused with the spirit of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, accountability is the defining feature of the human.”

This is our time to make things right, to ask What Went Wrong, and to pledge to make things better. It is our time to embrace the human.

From the staff of the New Jersey Jewish News, L’shana tova u’metuka — a good and sweet New Year.