The High Holy Days – a time for reflection and recommitment

The High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur give us the opportunity every year to recommit to meaningful lives. This includes self-renewal, embracing themes of revitalization, self-improvement, and cultivating our inner spiritual condition.

Useful questions to reflect on during these high holidays include the following:

What lessons did I learn in the past year that I will apply in the coming year?

How have I grown personally this past year and what new understandings do I carry into the next year?

What positive changes do I want to make this coming year?

What shared holiday traditions and collective worship bring me meaning and joy? Shofar blowing, tashlich ceremony, special prayers of remembrance, festive meals, fasting, the break- the-fast meal, meal, ne’ilah service, wearing white, other?

What intentions will I set for self-improvement in the coming year?

Every year I participate in 10Q. It is part of Reboot, an arts and culture non-profit “that reimagines and reinforces Jewish thought and traditions.” (https://www.doyou10q.com/about)

For 10 days, I answer the in-depth questions on 10Q. More than 750 unique organizations and communities have used 10Q as a platform to engage in meaningful Jewish reflection over the past 15 years. We answer one question per day in our own private online 10Q space. The answers are then sent to the secure online 10Q vault for safekeeping. One year later, the vault opens, and we can read our answers from the previous year for private reflection. I find this a helpful way to reflect on my past responses and develop new ones for the coming year.

In aish.com the article “Ten Inspiring Quotes for Ten Days of Repentance,” by Debbie Gurfreund, three of these quotations stood out to me:

“Open for me an opening the size of a needle and I will it expand it into a door through which wagons can go through” (Midrash on Song of Songs 5:2).

“Thinking ‘I can’t’ is idolatry. If the Almighty helps us, we can change the world. And if He doesn’t help, we can’t do anything” Rabbi Noah Weinberg.

“If you believe breaking is possible, believe fixing is possible” Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.

The High Holy Days give us the opportunity to reflect on our actions and perceptions and cultivate our inner spiritual lives. This is a powerful time for us to recommit to living purposeful and ethical lives.

PATRICIA RASKIN, owner of Raskin Resources Productions, is an award-winning radio producer, business owner and leader. She has served on the board of directors of Temple Emanu-El, in Providence. Her “Positive Living with Patricia Raskin” podcast can be heard on voiceamerica.com.