Individual and Communal Confession

The rabbinic tradition requires that all individuals confess their sins as part of the regular Yom Kippur liturgy. Leviticus Rabbah and the Babylonian Talmud offer a variety of views on how this confession is to be worded, in some cases providing only the initial phrase of the prayer. Fuller versions of the confessions of Rav and Samuel mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud appear in medieval sources.