With Rabbis Diane Elliot, Zvika Krieger and Rishe Groner
If Shabbat – the temporal palace of stillness, rest, and joyful renewal – serves as Judaism’s defining spiritual rhythm, then Teshuvah is the Merkava, the vehicle that gets us there. Teshuvah, translated as “turning” or “returning,” is described by Rabbi Alan Lew in his classic work book on the High Holy Day cycle, This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared, as a homecoming. This is not an arrival at a place or even a state, but a cyclic process of turning and returning to…where? what? who?
In this final module of this year’s Go Deeper Cohort Journey, we’ll address those questions together. Exploring the cycles of Teshuvah that thread through our Jewish ritual year, we’ll experience what it feels like to turn, to shift perspectives, to re-member; we’ll jumpstart the transformative process that reaches its height during the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, also known as the Ten Days of Teshuvah.
We’ll begin meeting during the month of Elul, whose Hebrew name is traditionally seen as an acronym for the phrase from the Song of Songs, “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li, I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is Mine.” This powerful verse will guide us into our exploration of Self and Other: Who am I in this moment, who or what is my Beloved, and what does it mean for my life that I and my Beloved belong to one another?
We’ll explore and experience the core spiritual technologies of the Teshuvah season – Selichot (Forgiveness), Shofar (Awakening), Tres Asar Midot (Love), and Psalm 27 (Protection) – through body and mind, chant and movement, textual learning and creative expression.
Our Teshuvah journey will aim to weave together the pathways of this year of Go Deeper and will culminate in the Sukkah, as we harvest the gifts of our learning. Rabbi Lew’s luminous book will serve as our core text, supplemented by teachings, poetry, prayers, and meditations drawn from various strata of Jewish tradition, including the Chochmat HaLev Machzor (High Holy Day Prayer book).
Come join us for this great journey home!
