Confession even as a formality in the routine prayers is definitely conducive to Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman

HH

In the daily prayers a Jew does a full confession, running through an alphabetic category of infractions and violations while tapping his/her chest on each item; in the morning prayer, afternoon prayer, and midnight rectification. Unless a person is a spiritual giant, the likes of Rabbi Yisroel Karduner who broke his heart over each item, chances are that most of the time this ritual is done mostly with remote, even the allotted time given to this section of the prayer – when praying with a minion (quorum) is negligible and in no way avails for a proper heartfelt change of heart. Today however I realized an amazing benefit from even the perfunctory confession. One of the most important and yet astonishingly difficult things in life is to admit wrongdoing and stand up and take responsibility. A person's first response is to deny, and then everything goes rapidly downhill, almost irreversible. However a simple Jew who is very accustomed to tapping his chest 66 times a day (numerical value as “horse” - soos, and if Sefardi, another 15 times for the added end letters of mantzepa”ch, making it 81, numerical value of “anger” - aff) and saying out loud, time and time again, I am wrong, I have sinned, makes it very very possible that when something goes wrong he will actually be prone to splurt out (if this isn't a word, it is high time to make it one) those very words without worrying about the consequences, which is an amazing chance for restoration, fixing, and ultimate peace.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!