The approaching Yom Kippur is an opportunity to do soul searching, to go deeper and remember who we should ask forgiveness from.
Just before the holiday, we asked managers and senior managers to gather and tell us who they ask for forgiveness from, and why.
Chava Zingboim: owner and CEO of the cosmetics corporation named after her
"If I could ask for forgiveness, I would ask my mother, who passed away exactly one year ago. I was born in Bat Yam to a mother who was emotionally damaged, who did not raise me. In the last ten years, we have hardly been in contact.
"As a child and teenager I felt that I needed to detach myself from her and her illness, in order to build the woman I am and the mother I am. I am thinking of forgiving her illness, which took her from me. I recently read a book that had a great impact on me called 'The Choice', by a Holocaust survivor psychologist who is returning to Auschwitz and forgiving herself for the choice she made during the holocaust. It helped me heal myself and forgive myself.
Chava Zingboim, photo: Dodi Hasson
"If I were to see my mother again today, I would tell her that I could not choose otherwise, and ask for her forgiveness. I learned to forgive myself, and to accept that as a child and a teenager I did not have the tools that I have today to accept things and understand things, and that was the best I could do , and therefore I would ask for her forgiveness. In the same way, I forgive myself.
"I had to get a sick person out of my life to build myself up. I know I did it for the mother I am today. It's about getting toxic people out of your life, even if they gave birth to you. No one has the right to hurt you, no matter how close they are to you. I knew As a girl I'd rather be alone than be with an abusive character.
"Today I can say that I have the ability to separate my mother from the disease, which was the worst. If she were alive today, I might be able to tell her, 'Mom, I love you, but I hate your disease.'"
Adam Friedler: one of the founders and CEO of the Good Pharm chain
"I apologize to my wife and children that I did not have enough time for them. During the period of the corona tests, I was not at home for almost three months. We were the main axis of the entire antigen project in Israel: it started in November of last year, and it continued until February. Since these were huge international transactions, it It took a lot of time. Apart from the physical thing, there was also the mental thing. Your head is there, but sometimes it's not quite there.
"There are many moments in which I would not have been able to be with the family. I have not been to many events related to children, such as graduation parties. I have small children, three and one and a half years old. I was not in the first moments: at the first step, at the first word. Establishing an infrastructure and a business requires a lot of sacrifice From the side of the family, and that includes a lot of concessions that have to be made.
Adam Friedler (left), photo: Yehoshua Yosef
"This year I intend to strike a balance between work and private life, and devote more time to the people close to me. Family and children are the engine and are the foundation, and they are more important than the business.
"This year, I also ask for forgiveness from the competitors, that we do not make life easy for them. We will continue to fight the cost of living. Next year, too, we will try to lower the prices for the benefit of the consumer."
Dan Piltz: CEO and co-owner of Dizengoff Center
"I want to ask forgiveness from the earth for using too much electricity and too much fuel, and for eating too many cows and chickens. I ask for forgiveness for using too much water, and for lighting too many fires. I used too many packages and bags, and too many bottles Disposable drinks and disposable dishes. But I want to guarantee that next year I will plant dozens of trees, I will try to get to work every day by bicycle and I will not use electricity unnecessarily.
"I have been a vegetarian for almost a year. During this year I still ate meat, but that will not happen again. I will become a complete vegetarian. I will try to travel by public transport and separate waste."
Dan Piltz, photo: Guy Hamoui
Are you also apologizing for the "mazes" at Dizengoff Center, when people can't find themselves?
"Absolutely not. I've been running the center for the past 28 years, and to my great regret I'm not part of the people who founded it. I won't apologize for the way you planned the place - that's part of its charm.
"I get quite a few inquiries about how to get from here to there and back, but we accept it with love. It's our chin, and we love it the way it is."
Tamara Cohen: founding partner of RiseUp
"As someone who immigrated from England to Israel, I apologize to the new immigrants for not being able to be the anchor for them as I wanted to be. I've been in Israel for six years now, and I'm still learning and trying to learn what to other Israelis seems obvious.
"My first entry into an Israeli bank was one of the most confusing experiences in my absorption process. I signed documents that I did not understand, I did not know what I was entitled to, I did not know what was legitimate to demand, and I did not know that in Israel it is acceptable and desirable to bargain, even in a bank. Entering a bank, as an Israeli, is difficult As someone who does not speak the language - it is twice as difficult. I wanted immigrants from Ukraine and Russia, who fled the inferno of the war, to have a softer landing. I wanted to be a guide for them in a challenging world of bureaucracy and financial burden. People left their lives and came to fight for a livelihood and a future.
Tamara Harel-Cohen, photo: Dror Einav
"I promised myself that I would be of help to them and that I would spare them the feeling of helplessness that I had, but I realized that it was more complicated than I thought, and for that I forgave the preparation. But alongside the regret, I look to the future: I pledge to myself to help the immigrants grow and integrate as members of the family, and not as guests. This year I will be A home for everyone who sought refuge here."
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