This week marks the beginning of the month of Elul, thirty days of preparation for the Days of Awe. Rabbi Yoshi has been sharing texts about the five elements of teshuvah (repentance).
The final step in the teshuvah process is a spiritual one: we come before God and we humbly confess our many shortcomings. On the High Holy Days, we do this as a community as part of our confessional (וידוי, vidui). We sing the Ashamnu prayer and we beat our chests. But we can do this privately at any time. Find a quiet place where you can be alone and talk to God, even if you’re not sure if you believe or even if you’re sure you don’t believe, give it a try. How could it hurt? Talk to God like you’d talk to a friend or to a therapist even. Tell God what you’ve done (God probably already knows). Talk about your sense of regret and your desire to do better in the future. And then, having done the work, having completed each step on the pathway of teshuvah, forgive yourself, move forward, and acknowledge the progress you’ve made towards becoming the person you know you’re meant to be.
— Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback
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