The Jewish High Holidays, which began this week with Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and will conclude with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) on Wednesday, ask us to take stock of what is going on in our lives and to reflect over this past year. In synagogues and houses of worship, Jews pray together in unison, asking God for forgiveness and collectively repenting for individual wrongs, a testament to the strength of community.
As we age, becoming evermore aware of our own mortality and the importance of living a meaningful life, we witness more of our loved ones slip away to death or to illness. So too, we witness the manifestation or disintegration of our dreams for success, family, happiness and all the secret desires within our hearts. For observant Jews, now is an opportunity to look at ourselves truthfully and choose to enhance what we did well and improve where we were deficient, all the while knowing that change and repentance are possible.
