Meditation before the Vidui
This meditation is to help prepare for a thorough and honest self-assessment before the confession litany, the Vidui, traditionally recited five times on Yom Kippur. It’s recited on…
Read articleMeditation on the Vidui
This prayer was originally posted as a “Meditation after the Yom Kippur Vidui.” A friend pointed out that with a broader name for the prayer it…
Read articleCongregational Prayer at the High Holidays
A new prayer for 5776. A leader of one of my synagogues in Israel asked me to write a community prayer. The request comes at a…
Read articleThe Greatest Sin
The High Holiday Vidui – the Jewish confessional prayer – contains a broad list of transgressions. This meditation suggests that the greatest sin of all is failure…
Read articleMeditation on the Eve of a New Year
A new meditation — written this morning — as the year 5774 comes to an end. May 5775 bring hope, blessing and peace. Instructions for using…
Read articleGates
Standing before the gates of heaven in prayer – yearning for them to stay open long enough for true repentance to be heard – is a…
Read articleThe Entry to Our Hearts
For the one crushed by sorrow, hope can be a prayer, a prayer of repentance, a prayer for healing. This is a High Holiday prayer for…
Read articleRepentance Inside
What does it take to internalize a deep sense of repentance, so that real change is possible? What will it take to be the man G-d…
Read articleYom Kippur 5774
Yom Kippur. A day of prayer. Of fasting. Of repentance. It can be deadly dull, hour after hour, year after year. Yet, I’ve experienced moments that…
Read articleLet Your Heart Stir
This three-stanza prayer/poem reflects the spiritual journey of t’shuva, repentance and return. The first stanza represents the month of Elul, when we are literally called to…
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