והתודו את עונם ואת עון אבותם במעלם אשר מעלו בי… (בחקותי כו:מ)

There was a Belzer Chassid in Lińsk (Lesko, Poland) who started to work to support his family after having studied several years after his wedding. He was once asked by the Frierdige Rav Ztz”l if he is still doing some learning, to which the Chassid replied with a definitive “no!”.  When the Frierdige Rav heard how he responded, he told the Chassid that he now understands something that bothered him for some time in our Parsha: “In the middle of all the punishments that are listed in the words of rebuke, there appears a Passuk that is seemingly out of place: “והתודו את עונם ואת עון אבותם,” as the list curses continue immediately after this Passuk.  If they have already confessed, why is there another litany of curses after their confession?  Perhaps we can understand it this way: When the Viduy (confession) is not done with a broken heart, only with the same arrogance as the sin, this means that there is no real remorse – to the contrary, a confession done in this way adds to the sin itself!”

(Heard from Reb Chaim Nota Katz Z”l)