We gather this night, in the fading light, to acknowledge the ways we have missed the mark. To find the “teachable moments” of the past year, and acknowledge them. These personal and collective moments where we were less than we could have been. Not to be in shame about them, but to let them into to the light. To name them and learn from them. To love ourselves, even in our imperfection. To love our Tribe, even when it feels like...

Kol Nidre By Kohenet Rev. Dr. Claudia Hall   Person says (individually or in unison)     Every year. Every year I make so many promises.  Promises to myself: to lose or gain weight, to eat better, sleep enough. The list is endless.  Promises to others: to be kinder, to express love more, to get angry less. The list is endless.  Promises to God: to be a better Jew, a better human being, that this is the year I will get my act together...

Here’s a meditation from liturgist and poet Alden Solovy to be recited after the Yom Kippur confessional prayer, written to reinforce the core message of repentence and return. It was originally posted as a “Meditation after the Yom Kippur Vidui.” A friend pointed out that with a broader name for the prayer it can be used on Selichot, as well as throughout the month of Elul as preparation for the High Holy Days, the Yamim Noraim.   Meditation on the Vidui For...

The traditional confessional prayer, the Vidui, is composed of two parts, the Ashamnu and the Al Chet, that we read aloud on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The Ashamnu (translated as “we have trespassed” or “we are guilty”) is an abbreviated confession, an alphabetic acrostic, and written in first person plural. We recite this confessional in the plural to represent our shared responsibility and culpability in all of our lives and missteps. We also share this confessional as a reminder that...

Hineni: Here I Stand, Interpretation by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat During the Musaf (additional) service on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it's traditional to recite a prayer called  Hineni, "Here I stand." It's an outpouring of hopes written by an anonymous medieval cantor, and I find it tremendously powerful. (Here's a translation of the traditional text, with some commentary.)  This is not a translation -- rather an interpretation. I offer it for anyone else who's davening Hineni this Yom Kippur. Feel free...

Forgiveness is For the Giving By Rachel Kann There is a little whisper within you.  It speaks discreetly, yet yearns to be heard.  The world is ending  to begin again.  You are your own rectification.  You are your own next generation. Forgiveness is for the giving:  Round out your harsh angling,  return eternal.  You have been restored. Every breath is a second chance.  Make no mistake, your daily awakening is proof positive of a mercy  beyond comprehension.  Having been given so...

There are stars whose radiance is visible on earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind.

And G!d says: “And if you have lost this year; if you have known grief newly, if you suffer the ache of old mourning come back, and back, and back, then we have made a place for you to mourn. Here, in the middle of the day, inside these walls: a container. We will hold your grief for you, so that you may continue the work. It will be there when you leave, yes, but for now, set your grief in...

Erev Yom Kippur by Julia Knobloch  To those who sat around my table: What you vow is vowed. To those who promised, I won’t forget: What you bind is bound. To those who said, I love you: What you swear is sworn. A crow lands on the lawn in Blumfield Garden. As a girl, I hear my mother say, you jumped like them, it made you laugh. A silent windmill overlooks the valley. My head hurts among the masses at the...

So Much/Ahavah Rabbah by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat  Dear One, you love me so much you give me your Torah for argument and play waltzing and conversation from one life to the next. Your Torah nourishes me, familiar as the womb. Wrap me tight in your Torah like a newborn. Laugh in delight when I learn to break free. Your Torah lights up my eyes, fuses my heart with my choices. Give me just one letter to suck like candy, like manna...

High Holidays in Five Senses  What do the High Holidays smell like?  They smell of freshly-baked sweet challah, the vanilla-y pages of an old book, your grandfather’s aftershave, the tang of the etrog and the perfume of lulav branches. What do the High Holidays feel like?   They feel like fists beating on chests, shifting your tush on a wooden pew in an unairconditioned sanctuary, running your fingers through the fringes of a tallit, dropping crumbs into the water as you cast...

For centuries, Sephardi Jewish families have gathered to celebrate a special Rosh Hashanah ceremony with a plate or meal of symbolic foods. Each food is eaten after requesting a specific kind of Divine blessing that sounds like the name of that food in Hebrew.  Before eating dates ( tamar ): May it be your will, God, that hatred will end. ( Tamar resembles the word for end, yitamu. ) Before eating pomegranate: May we be as full of mitzvot as the...