הלכה על דניאל 9:7

And that is that He commanded us to confess the transgressions and sins that we have done before God and to say them together with [our] repentance. And that is confession. And its intent is that one say, "Please, Lord, I have sinned, I have transgressed, I have rebelled and I have done such and such." And he should prolong the statement and request forgiveness about this matter according to the polish of his speech. And you should know that even the sins for which one is liable for the types of sacrifices that are mentioned - that He said that one offer them and it atones for him - do not suffice with the sacrifice when it is without confession. And that is His saying, "Speak to the children of Israel [saying], a man or woman who commits from any of the sins of man [...]. And they shall confess the sins that they did" (Numbers 5:6-7). And the language of the Mekhilta is, "Since it is stated (Leviticus 5:5), 'and he shall confess that which he has sinned upon it' - it is to be upon the sin-offering when it is in existence, not after it has been slaughtered. It is only understood that an individual confesses for entering the Temple [impure]" - for this verse appears in Parashat Vayikra about one who renders the Temple and its sanctified objects impure, and that which is mentioned with it, as we explained; and so the Mekhilta there raises the possibility that we would only learn the obligation for confession from Scripture about one who renders the Temple impure. "From where are you to include all the other commandments? [Hence] we learn to say, 'Speak to the children of Israel [...]. And they shall confess.' And from where [do we know] even [sins that bring punishments of] excision and death penalties of the court? It states, 'the sins,' to include negative commandments; 'that they did,' to include positive commandments." And there it says, "'From any of the sins of man' - for theft, for robbery, for evil speech; 'to commit a trespass' - to include one who swears falsely and a blasphemer; 'and be guilty' - to include all those guilty of death penalties. It might be even those who are killed according to the testimony of colluding ones. I only said, 'and that man be guilty.'" That means to say that he is not obligated to confess when he knows that he has not sinned, but rather what was testified against him was false. Behold it has been made clear to you that we are obligated to confess for all types of transgressions, big and small - and even [for] positive commandments. But because this command - that is, "And they shall confess" - appeared with an obligation for a sacrifice, it could have entered our mind that confession is not a commandment by itself, but is rather from those things that are an extension of the sacrifice. [Hence] they needed to clarify this in the Mekhilta with this language - "It might be that when they bring their sacrifices, they confess; when they do not bring their sacrifices, they do not confess. [Hence] we learn to say, 'Speak to the children of Israel [...]. And they shall confess.' But still, the understanding of confession is only in the Land [of Israel]. From where [do we know], also in the diaspora? [Hence] we learn to say, 'their iniquities [...] and the iniquities of their fathers' (Leviticus 26:40)." And likewise did Daniel say, "To You, Lord, is justice, etc." (Daniel 9:7). Behold that which we have mentioned has been made clear to you - that confession is a separate obligation; and that it is an obligation for the sinner for every sin that he did. Whether in the Land or outside of the Land; whether he brought a sacrifice or did not bring a sacrifice - he is obligated to confess, as it is stated, "And they shall confess for their iniquities." And the language of the [Sifra] is, "'And he shall confess' - that is confession of words." And the regulations of this commandment have already been explained in Tractate Yoma. (See Parashat Nasso; Mishneh Torah, Repentance 1).

And since this commandment of confession comes with the obligation to bring an offering - as is written in Parshat Vayikra there (Leviticus 5:6), "And he shall bring his guilt-offering, etc." - one might think that the confession is not an independent commandment on its own, but rather only one of the things that are an extension of the sacrifice. Therefore they had to elucidate in the Mekhilta that such is not the case, but rather it is indeed an independent commandment. And so they said there, "I might have thought that I only confess when they brought [offerings]. From where do I know even at the time that they do not bring [them]? Since it is stated, 'the children of Israel[...] and they shall confess'" - meaning to say that the tradition comes to expound [it] in this way. "Still, I might have thought that there is confession only in the Land"; that is, even though one may confess without the sacrifice, nonetheless, that the obligation for confession is only in the Land, as that is the locus of atonement, and the sacrifices are there and the locus of everything is there. "From where do I know to include the Diaspora? From that which is written (Leviticus 26:40), 'And they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers.'" That is, the iniquity of their fathers who sinned and were exiled from the Land. "And so [too,] did Daniel say outside of the Land (Daniel 9:7) 'For You, Lord, is the righteousness and for us is the shame on this day.'" Hence it is elucidated that confession is an independent commandment and that it is practiced in all places. And they also said in the Sifra (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Section 4 6), "'And they shall confess' - that is verbal confession."