The High Holy Days season comes upon us each year and beckons us to return home to our best selves, community, and what is sacred. This ancient practice is transformational.
In this challenging year, it is more essential than ever to stop, take stock, and envision hope and renewal.
While the themes of these holy days return every year, we are different and we see with new eyes. Return: 30 Days of Reflection is your guide to the soul-work of this season.
Return contains questions for each day of Elul. You can write your responses in the PDF directly or print it out.
Download interactive PDF for $18-$36.
Your soul-preparation workbook for this High Holy Days season.
By Rabbi Jill Zimmerman
Yes, I want the workbook!
Teshuvah (Hebrew for "return") is the primary cosmic energy of this season. We direct our hearts back to center.
This personal work is so important that we set aside an entire month (Elul ) for reflection.
You think deeply about who you are, where you are, and who you want to be. You review the past year and set new intentions for the coming year. You reflect, repair, and renew.
When you take time to engage in this practice, the High Holy Days season is exponentially more meaningful. They become a tool for spiritual transformation.
What Does Return/Teshuvah
Mean This Year?
This year, as we reflect, gather, and consider, the pain the Jewish community has experienced this past year pulsates under the surface.
The anguished cries from the massacre in Israel last Simchat Torah torment us. Israeli hostages remain in captivity, a torrent of blood and destruction has devastated the people of Gaza. Too many people have died.
Every year at the High Holy Days, we return to the same metaphors of brokenness and wholeness in our prayers and texts. This year, these themes are urgently relevant.
Using the lens of what is broken and whole helps us tell the truth about our own lives, and our community at this current moment. What needs repair in ourselves, our relationships, and our world?
This spiritual work is a precursor to meaningful change. It allows us to renew our hope for the future. We are all needed in this new world. I hope this workbook will be valuable for your own soul journey this season.
A Note From Rabbi Jill Zimmerman
Founding Rabbi for Path With Heart Community
In this edition of the Return workbook, many questions have been rephrased for improved clarity. Even if you have engaged in this process before, YOU have changed, and the world has shifted. This is an opportunity to begin again and deepen this year's Elul season.
Return is divided into four weeks with explanations of the season's themes. There is a question for each day.
Return is part of Path With Heart Community: Jewish Mindfulness for Every Day's offerings for this High Holy Days season.
We are also hosting a three-session course on Spiritual Preparation for the High Holy Days to go deeper into the themes of this workbook. Our High Holy Day Gatherings are unique, non-traditional and beautiful. Check your emails for more information.
Yes, I want the workbook!