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Month of Elul

Each year as summer fades into fall, Jewish tradition invites us to turn inward. The month of Elul precedes the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We dedicate this time to preparing ourselves for the holidays so that we can experience them as fully as possible. During Elul we are asked to look into ourselves. We think about who we are and who we want to be. Whose forgiveness do we need in order for us to enter a new year with a clean slate? Judaism offers help for this period of introspection in several ways: The shofar sounds daily, awakening us from complacency; later in the month, prayers of repentance—selikhot—are added to the daily liturgy. Perhaps most important, during Elul, we can support each other through the process of requesting and offering forgiveness with full and open hearts. 

Latest Rituals

“When I feel most broken / pulled apart / when every door unhinged / is opened / but feels closed”

abstract image of wire shapes filled with prismed bubbles

As we prepare to trace the world’s beginnings, may we choose life

in the rain, hands holding a clump of dirt with a plant growing

Intentions, blessings, and poems to read upon immersing in the mikveh before Rosh Hashanah

a person sits at the water's edge, lifting their hands upward

To connect the physical with the mental, emotional, and spiritual, Mayyim Hayyim provides Seven Kavanot (intentions) as a guide to help you slow down, center, and be present in the moment

water is splashing against a person's cupped hands

A poem about what the blast of the shofar does to bring us out of past and present

a young person blows a shofar

A poem about spiritual mutiny for Elul

a person wraps their arm around another person as they sit looking out on a body of water with a boat in the distance

“For the Regretter, a regretting song”

a person's silhouette sitting on a ledge looking out at a cloudy sky

A tashlikh ritual to affirm one’s wholeness after a divorce

threads connect two pieces of dark grey fabric that are being torn apart

Take time to prepare your personal prayers for the high holidays

a person is holding a blue book open

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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