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Inscribing Ourselves into the Book of Life

two trees with beams of sunlight between

Elul, the month leading up to the High Holidays, is the time to write the first sentence in our personal Book of Life. This is an empowering time to take control of our narratives and decide who, and how, we want to be this year. We open our hearts through deep reflection and introspection. We take stock, ask for forgiveness, offer forgiveness, and try to heal our relationships with ourselves, with others and with the Divine. This Elul, Ritualwell will offer a series of weekly teachings to support your process of transformation in preparation for the High Holidays. Learn, explore and connect with your deeper self through Jewish learning and prompts for reflection and action.

A new teaching will be posted below on August 13, 20, and 27 and on September 3 and 10. Want to receive the weekly teaching directly in your inbox? We’ll send you the Ritualwell newsletter rich with resources. Subscribe here.

Latest Rituals

Before beginning a writing project or before repairing a scroll, I speak out my verbal intention. But then I often stay still for an extra moment.
a scroll with Hebrew letters, part of Megillat Esther, with a quill and bottle of ink.
I wish for you an Elul that is full of future-tense language.
the sun shines behind some clouds in a golden sky
An Elul 5783 teaching by Rabbi Janet Madden
person with long hair facing away with black and rainbow kippah blowing shofar
Imagine that the whole world is God’s sukkah, and that we are all sheltered there.
a baby penguin stands at the feet of its parent
We can become a beriah hadasha — a new version of ourselves in this New Year.
a sprout emerges from dirt

Practices and meditations for making changes in life during the high holidays and all year long

a chrysalis hangs from a branch, there is a monarch wing visible through it

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