Facebook’s Zuckerberg asks forgiveness on Yom Kippur

On the Jewish Day of Atonement, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg sought pardon from all “those [he] hurt this year.”

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a special message on his page in which he asked forgiveness from those he offended in the past year on the occasion of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

“Tonight concludes Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews when we reflect on the past year and ask forgiveness for our mistakes. For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better,” Zuckerberg wrote.

“For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better,” he vowed. Zuckerberg expressed his hope that “we all [will] be better in the year ahead, and may you all be inscribed in the book of life.”

Judaism teaches that in order to be forgiven by God for wronging another person, one is required to seek his forgiveness. Jews are thus required to seek, confront, and appease those whom they might have wronged throughout the year.

Yom Kippur is ultimately about change–changing one’s behavior, one’s habits, and one’s values for the better. Yom Kippur is an opportunity to become a better person.

Zuckerberg recently celebrated his Jewish heritage around Rosh Hashanah when he posted, “For Shabbat tonight, we gave Max [his daughter] a kiddush cup that has been in our family for almost 100 years. Her great-great-grandfather Max got it after our family immigrated here and it has been passed down through our family ever since.”

By: World Israel News Staff