When the Torah says that the Cohen Gadol asked for forgiveness for himself, his family and of the nation as a whole (16:17) why does he not just ask for forgiveness for everyone, which would clearly include himself and his family?
The answer is that before we think about fixing the entire world we need to fix ourselves and our surroundings. As the airlines say, “secure your mask before assisting others.”
The word “forgiveness” in this verse is only mentioned once. The verse does not speak about asking for ‘forgiveness for himself, forgiveness for his family and forgiveness for the nation as a whole’ . It suffices to merely gain forgiveness for himself which will in turn effect his family and his entire nation.
