Yom Kippur, which begins at sundown Oct. 11, is the Day of Atonement when we ask God to forgive us for our sins. We just celebrated Rosh Hashanah 5785, the Jewish New Year, and released our tashlich, casting off the sins of 5784. We are supposed to reflect over the 10 days until Yom Kippur and get our list of sins ready to ask forgiveness. 

Yet many of us have silly things we regret that we haven’t let go of. God will likely forgive us this week, so why can’t we forgive ourselves for doing something dumb years ago?

Let’s start big with fashion mistakes. We all have the pictures to prove it. When you posed for that photo, your outfit was all the rage. Or was it? Some of the trends we followed were pretty brutal, though I would pay big money for Units and Esprit to come back with no changes. I could whip out an add-a-bead necklace, a Swatch watch and some neon jelly flats before going to town on my big hair. 

As luck would have it, the trends that were misses are the ones we have the most photos of, and certain parents who thought we were adorable still have those photos framed and hanging where guests gather. Much to the dismay of my sister Susie, I’ve included one with this column for your viewing pleasure. 

Maybe some outfits didn’t look great on you because you put on a few pounds, or maybe more than a few. Calm down, you still looked darling. So you ate carbs with reckless abandon and considered cream sauce a food group. There was more of you to love. Tummy rolls and chubby pulkes are so cute on babies and Shar-Peis, why aren’t they cute on me? Bubbe and Zayde will never take those pictures down, either. Can’t we agree to just do our best and not scrutinize the number on the scale all the time? 

Is it just me, or do you call yourself stupid every time you can’t solve the New York Times’ Connections game? That’s mean. It’s a game. We’re not New Yorkers, so we can’t be expected to solve it every time. 

Bad dates and bad relationships can create lingering bad feelings, even many years after they’ve ended. That failed love interest probably seemed charming and fun, until it wasn’t, and then you look back and think, “Why did I keep dating the Bacon Cheeseburger?” (Nickname explanation: He kept kosher at home but literally went hog wild at restaurants.) 

You tell yourself, “I should have stayed just friends with the Special Friend, but I escalated the degree of specialness and it ended in disaster.” If you kicked them to the curb at any point, ya done good, kid. Tell yourself that you didn’t waste the time, you used the time to research what doesn’t work for you. It’s like a scientific experiment. You had a hypothesis, you did a full data analysis and the breakup was your way of presenting the results. 

Honorable mentions for self-induced guilt include binge watching your shows instead of cleaning the house, binge watching your shows instead of exercising and binge watching your shows instead of solving the world’s problems. Add extra guilt points if you watched “bad” TV instead of quality programming. I happen to find it healing and therapeutic to rewatch “Melrose Place” because it takes my mind off the news.

Yom Kippur is the perfect time to finally let that emotional tashlich go. Not just sins and wrongdoings, but the regret you might carry. It’s very heavy and doesn’t have handles, so let that sh*t go! Let it fly like a balloon released in the wind, which in literal terms is bad for the environment, but the proverbial version is good for your soul. 

I hope Susie keeps this in mind when she sees the photo I have included here and forgives me when 5786 rolls around.