Teshuvah

Yom Kippur 2011 is observed on Oct. 7-8, 2011. Known as the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur falls on 10 Tishrei 5772 on the Hebrew calendar, which...

As you reflect on why your dreams have not been realized, how will your frustrations and disappointments impact you moving forward in the New Year?

The blast of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah calls out to all of us: "Wake up! You have been sleeping!" The slumber is clear. The choice is ours. But to what is it that we awaken?

Repentance and forgiveness are powerful conscious processes that bring growth and lasting healing. That is why for Jews the holiest days of the year are those when we commit our lives to these processes.

For me, doing inner work in a Jewish community setting is truly another coming home, a return -- a teshuvah -- so appropriate at this season of our turning.

In looking at the continued imprisonment and mistreatment of people who have not been convicted of or tried for a crime, I think that the Jewish notion of personal responsibility and teshuvah is not being followed.

We may not fix all the wrongs done by our fellow Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, or Hindus, but we have the power, and the responsibility, to be constantly improving ourselves and our communities.

Heart-searching is at the heart of the High Holy Days. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur offer us the opportunity to come out of hiding, to honestly assess our current life circumstances, and to begin paving the way for the New Year.

Elul is an opportune time to engage in teshuvah, the process of repenting after committing a sin. In our world where men tend to dominate women, men have a special task to reflect on their relationship to women.

Repentance, even when it falls short, is still a mark of moral resolve and personal courage. This is the moral lesson that I take from the life of Robert Byrd in the weeks leading up to this Yom Kippur.