
Do, Talk, Read, Listen: A Multi-Sensory Guide to the High Holidays

The Gates are Open. Now What?

LISTEN
Open the Gates by Beth Schafer – In this beautiful song and prayer, Beth Schaefer is asking God picchu li: “Open for me the gates of justice.”DO
Together: Host a Practical Teshuvah Workshop. The only rules: bring a pen, paper, and an open view of yourself. Individually: Sign up for 10Q! 10Q emails you a question a day for Yamim Nora’im. Your answers are locked in a secure online vault and and returned to you one year later. Here’s one of the questions from last year: “Is there something that you wish you had done differently this past year? Alternatively, is there something you’re especially proud of from this past year?”READ

So how do we repent?
There are a few steps:- Confess
- Feel regret
- Promise not to repeat the action.
DISCUSS
Why do we confess to sins we haven’t all performed? Do you think you are responsible for your community’s sins? Why or why not? How should we hold our community accountable? What is our obligation?Is it too late to apologize?
If we sin against someone else, there’s a fourth step to repentance: apologize!LISTEN
Sorry Not Sorry: This is a special Yom Kippur podcast episode from Unorthodox about apologies that have gone right and wrong. Thanks MHWOW host Jonathan Hornstein for telling us about this episode!
DISCUSS
What makes a good apology? How do we bring ourselves to forgive those who have hurt us?You gotta forgive yourself too
To be completely honest, Yom Kippur is kind of a bummer. On Yom Kippur we beat ourselves up (literally!) for the mistakes we’ve made. There’s a place for this in the steps of repentance: confess, feel regret, and promise not to do it again; but it doesn’t say, “continue to berate yourself.” According to Unetanah Tokef, the poem many Jews read on the High Holy Days, God is merciful:“You are difficult to anger and easy to appease. For You do not desire the death of the condemned, but that he turn from his path and live. Until the day of his death You wait for him. Should he turn, You will receive him at once.”When God forgives us on Yom Kippur, I think we should also forgive ourselves. When we exercise self-compassion, instead of being hard on ourselves when we mess up, we treat ourselves with kindness and understanding. I know, it sounds weird, but it’s really helpful. Try one of these self-compassion exercises to end your program on a positive note.