Read the story read by Daniel Diker.

Probably, the most important custom on the Yamim Nora'im is the one that so many people like least - apologizing to everyone we may have hurt over the past year. It's an opportunity to visit our friends and say we're sorry for anything we may have done to hurt them. Sometimes this can be easy. But most of the time, its very difficult. It's difficult to admit to someone that you took something from them, or acted rudely, or gossiped about them. And sometimes, when you hurt someone, it's so hard to fix afterwards. That's what happened to the man who gossiped about the Rabbi, when he came to apologize:

"Rabbi, " he said, I'm so sorry. I've been telling all sorts of stories about you, and now I want to apologize. I'll do anything you ask if only you will forgive me."

The Rabbi looked at him and said, "You have a feather pillow, don't you? Take it to the middle of the city, wait for the wind to blow, and let all the feathers out. Then collect all the feathers and bring them back to me."

"But, Rabbi," the man said, "that's impossible. How can I possibly collect all the feathers.? They'll fly all over the place.

The Rabbi smiled at him and said, " It's the same with gossip. It goes everywhere and it's so hard to clean up."

Still, we should all try to mend our mistakes, no matter how difficult it is. Sometimes we feel that we've really made a mess of things and can't even bring ourselves to apologise because we feel so bad. But if we muster up the courage and really talk from our hearts, it touches the heart goes straight to the heart of the person we're apologising to. And for the most time, all gets forgiven and forgotten. Remember, if you want others to forgive us, we should be ready to forgive them.