The Ebenezer Scrooge model: Can Yom Kippur really bring repentance and change?

A reflective analysis comparing the Yom Kippur process of repentance to Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The article draws on psychological insights from Prof. Mario Mikulincer to explore whether genuine behavioral change is possible, examining the roles of guilt, shame, executive function, and the Yom Kippur liturgy in fostering lasting transformation.

This feature article uses Charles Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge as a literary model to explore whether Yom Kippur can genuinely produce lasting behavioral change. The author, Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, draws a parallel between Scrooge's supernatural confrontation with his past, present, and future and the Yom Kippur liturgy, which asks worshippers to confront who they were, who they have become, and who they might yet become. Prof. Mario Mikulincer, a psychologist from Hebrew University, provides the analytical framework. He explains that habits operate automatically and that under stress, habit almost always wins over intention. Genuine repentance, he notes, is not merely feeling sorry but actively choosing differently—a process that requires executive function. The article examines the Yom Kippur fast as a tool for introspection, the collective confession (viddui) as a way to bridge denial and reality, and the Ne'ilah prayer as a confrontation with mortality. Mikulincer warns against the 'False Hope Syndrome' of setting unrealistic goals and distinguishes between guilt, which motivates improvement, and shame, which triggers defensiveness and paralysis. The piece concludes that while change is possible, it requires self-discipline, practice, and realistic step-by-step effort.