A few weeks ago, I sat on a Zoom call with our rabbi and four other rabbinical and cantorial students from my childhood synagogue to talk about teshuvah.
You might ask, “what is teshuvah and how do we do it?”
Teshuvah, which literally means “repentance” and comes from the word “turning”, is the process that we are called to undertake during the High Holidays, especially Yom Kippur.
While we can’t be physically together Rosh Hashanah afternoon for Tashlich (the throwing of bread or birdseed into water to represent the casting off of our sins), here are some resources that will help you observe on your own.
This holiday season may be very different than the ones that you have experienced in the past, and that is OK. Do your best to create sacred space and time in any way that works for you.
Shalom, all!
My name is Emily Dana, and I am overjoyed to be joining your community for the coming year as United Hebrew Congregation’s rabbinic intern.
What do you need to know about me? I was born in Boston and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, where I attended Beth Emet Synagogue in Evanston.
Growing up, I went to Camp OSRUI in Oconomowoc, Wis., where I also served on staff for a number of years.
Recently, a visitor to our website asked for information on Rabbi Samuel N. Deinard (1872-1921), who served our congregation during the last years of the 19th century.
My research took me to Herman Koren‘s Commemorative Book: 150th Anniversary of the Jewish Community in Terre Haute 1849-1999, where I came across a quote from the first ordained rabbi in Terre Haute, Dr. Alexander Lyons. At the dedication of the first Temple Israel in 1891, Rabbi Lyons described the synagogue as the “school house of the soul”.
I thought about this quote as the month of Elul, when we prepare for the High Holy Days, began. This year is certainly different because our Temple, since March, has conducted its business virtually.
