Preparing for the End and a New Beginning: Awakening the Soul

The month prior to the new Jewish year is a time of introspection, in which we take an accounting of our soul, identifying who we have been and how we have acted in the past year. We listen to the cry of the shofar, the ram’s horn, daily during this month, awakening our souls ahead of the new year. It is also the time in which we begin the process of teshuva, often translated as repentance, but literally, return, as in returning to ourselves and who we are meant to be. Join us to explore how this auspicious time on the Jewish calendar can enhance our ability to live well in the face of mortality.

This is session 1 of the 3-part series, Awakening to the New Jewish Year: Living Well in the Face of Mortality. The new Jewish year, 5782, begins in the evening of September 6. As we enter the season of reflection on the Jewish calendar, join us for a 3-part series on living well in the face of mortality. Starting with the work of taking a spiritual inventory, continuing with the deathbed stories of the Hasidic masters, and concluding with a look at how the pandemic has helped us to face our own inevitable end in new ways, we will explore the depths of Jewish wisdom to help us enter the new year open to the realities of our lives. Sign-up is permitted after the first class has passed. 2nd session: September 1. 3rd session: September 14