Halakhah for Nehemiah 1:6
תְּהִ֣י נָ֣א אָזְנְךָֽ־קַשֶּׁ֣בֶת וְֽעֵינֶ֪יךָ פְתֻוּח֟וֹת לִשְׁמֹ֣עַ אֶל־תְּפִלַּ֣ת עַבְדְּךָ֡ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָנֹכִי֩ מִתְפַּלֵּ֨ל לְפָנֶ֤יךָ הַיּוֹם֙ יוֹמָ֣ם וָלַ֔יְלָה עַל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עֲבָדֶ֑יךָ וּמִתְוַדֶּ֗ה עַל־חַטֹּ֤אות בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָטָ֣אנוּ לָ֔ךְ וַאֲנִ֥י וּבֵית־אָבִ֖י חָטָֽאנוּ׃
let Thine ear now be attentive, and Thine eyes open, that Thou mayest hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant, which I pray before Thee at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel Thy servants, while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and my father’s house have sinned.
Abudarham
"Indeed we have sinned". Even though the viddui was composed in accordance with the 'aleph bet' it is said at the beginning "we have sinned" before the rest of the confessions as it says Midrash Tanchuma "the people came before Moses and said 'we have sinned'" because they said "we have sinned" they were forgiven immediately. And it says in another place [Midrash Tanchuma Warsaw ed. Parshat Balak 10] that "anyone who sins and says 'I have sinned' an angel is not permitted to harm them. There are those who interpret 'aval' to mean 'alas' we have sinned and there are those who interpret it as 'indeed we have sinned' (Gen. 42:21). "We and our ancestors" is in the manner of "confessing the sins that we Israelites have committed against You, sins that I and my father’s house have committed." (Nehemiah 1:6) and in the manner of "stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers" (Nehemiah 9:2). And it is written "For we have sinned against the LORD our God" (Jeremiah 3:25). [He then goes on to give a citation every word in the Viddui]
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