354. Here the ancient pillars of the world were divided. One said: Job was one of the pious of the nations of the world, and another said: Job was one of the pious of Yisrael, but was smitten in order to atone for the world. One day Rav Hamnuna found Elijah and said to him: We have definitely learned that there is a righteous man who suffers and a wicked man who prospers. RAV HAMNUNA EXPLAINED AND said: A righteous man is one whose sins are few and who pays the price for them in this world, and thus the righteous man suffers. But if his sins are many and his good deeds few, then he receives his reward in this world, AND THUS is a wicked man who prospers. He said to him: The judgments of the Master of the World are profound, but when the Holy One, blessed be He, wants to make atonement for the sins of the generation, He smites their arm and through this action the generation is healed. It can be likened to a doctor who smites, NAMELY LETS BLOOD IN the arm in order to save all the parts, as it is written: "But he was wounded because of our transgressions" (Yeshayah 53:5).
355. As we have learned, on that day of Rosh Hashanah, seventy seats of justice arise to judge the world, many for the defense and many for the prosecution standing on high, those on the right for innocence and those on the left for guilt, to recall the sins of the world and the sins of each individual. A man has therefore to CONFESS AND specify his sins, each one just as it is, for whoever expounds his sins BEFORE THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, judgment is passed on him by the Holy One, blessed be He, and by no other. And whoever is judged by the Holy One, blessed be He, it is for his good. This is why King David requested: "Judge me, Elohim" (Tehilim 43:1), You and none other. Similarly, Solomon said, "that He maintain the cause of His servant" (I Melachim 8:59). He and no other. And the HEAVENLY court leaves him.
356. This is why the sins of every limb have to be expounded, and everything that he did in detail, as it is written: "I acknowledge my sin to You" (Tehilim 32:5). And this same verse concludes: "and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Se'la." How do we know this? We know it from Moses, for it is written: "This people has sinned a great sin" (Ibid. 31). And about Yisrael is written: "We have sinned because we have forsaken Hashem" (I Shmuel 12:10). Should you suggest THAT THE VERSE ABOUT MOSES refers to an individual alone, while in public one does not HAVE TO SPECIFY ONE'S SINS, then the other verse "WE HAVE SINNED BECAUSE WE HAVE FORSAKEN HASHEM" comes to teach the opposite, FOR IT IS SAID IN PUBLIC. And should you agree that it is to be in public, but that it is not the cantor WHO HAS TO DETAIL THE SINS, the opposite is suggested, as it is written: "And Moses returned to Hashem and said: This people has sinned a great sin...and have made them an Elohim of gold." What is the reason? It is because the heavenly court leaves alone the person who expounds his own sins AND DOES NOT FIND HIM GUILTY. Because a man may be considered as one of his own close relatives, AND A RELATIVE IS UNACCEPTABLE AS A WITNESS. He is, THEREFORE, not judged according to his OWN testimony.
357. Moreover, he does not let the prosecutor teach guilt and fault about him, because the person himself comes first and tells all, leaving nothing for anyone else to mention. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives him, as it is written: "But whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy" (Mishlei 28:13).