I won’t look too far ahead
It’s too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath
This next step
This next choice is one that I can make…
So I’ll walk through this night
Stumbling blindly toward the light
And do the next right thing
And with the dawn, what comes then
When it’s clear that everything will never be the same again?
Then I’ll make the choice
To hear that voice
And do the next right thing.
- Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
It’s too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath
This next step
This next choice is one that I can make…
So I’ll walk through this night
Stumbling blindly toward the light
And do the next right thing
And with the dawn, what comes then
When it’s clear that everything will never be the same again?
Then I’ll make the choice
To hear that voice
And do the next right thing.
- Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
(כט) וְהָיְתָ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם לְחֻקַּ֣ת עוֹלָ֑ם בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַ֠שְּׁבִיעִ֠י בֶּֽעָשׂ֨וֹר לַחֹ֜דֶשׁ תְּעַנּ֣וּ אֶת־נַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶ֗ם וְכׇל־מְלָאכָה֙ לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֔וּ הָֽאֶזְרָ֔ח וְהַגֵּ֖ר הַגָּ֥ר בְּתוֹכְכֶֽם׃ (ל) כִּֽי־בַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֛ה יְכַפֵּ֥ר עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם לְטַהֵ֣ר אֶתְכֶ֑ם מִכֹּל֙ חַטֹּ֣אתֵיכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה תִּטְהָֽרוּ׃
And this shall be to you a law for all time: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall practice self-denial; and you shall do no manner of work, neither the citizen nor the stranger who resides among you. For on this day atonement shall be made for you to purify (לְטַהֵר) you of all your sins; you shall be pure [תִּטְהָֽרוּ] before the Eternal.
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat (1975- , USA)
Teshuvah is a process: not just the apology, but all of the work that has to come before it – and after it. And we do the work because the work matters and it’s the right thing, not because we expect any particular outcome. Teshuvah matters, whether or not forgiveness comes.
The most important outcome, ideally, is that we ourselves are transformed. We become better people who, faced with the same opportunity to mess up, wouldn’t make the same mistake again because we’ve changed. In the eyes of Jewish tradition, that’s what really matters.
Teshuvah is a process: not just the apology, but all of the work that has to come before it – and after it. And we do the work because the work matters and it’s the right thing, not because we expect any particular outcome. Teshuvah matters, whether or not forgiveness comes.
The most important outcome, ideally, is that we ourselves are transformed. We become better people who, faced with the same opportunity to mess up, wouldn’t make the same mistake again because we’ve changed. In the eyes of Jewish tradition, that’s what really matters.
Rabbi Kim Blumenthal (1978- , USA)
In this time of lingering unknowns and blurry paths forward, promises are difficult to make, and even harder to keep. Overwhelmed by the complexity and gravity of our era, how do we decide what vows to take…what causes to adopt…what challenges most need our energy?... How do we encounter a world of brokenness and pain? How do we offer ourselves, our hearts, our energy, our skills—when the need for help and healing is far beyond our capacity?
In this time of lingering unknowns and blurry paths forward, promises are difficult to make, and even harder to keep. Overwhelmed by the complexity and gravity of our era, how do we decide what vows to take…what causes to adopt…what challenges most need our energy?... How do we encounter a world of brokenness and pain? How do we offer ourselves, our hearts, our energy, our skills—when the need for help and healing is far beyond our capacity?
Rabbi Lisa Grushcow (1974- ,Canada)
It is not an accident, then, that the first mitzvah, the first commandment we are to do immediately after Yom Kippur is to begin to build a sukkah. The sukkah is a temporary structure, as fragile as we are mortal, yet filled with life and joy. In Rabbi [Sari] Laufer’s words: “We move from the edge of mortality into the next right thing – a celebration of abundance, of family and friends, of light and wind and sun and rain.” Soon, we will build; we will do that next right thing, helping to hold each other as we climb back up to life.
It is not an accident, then, that the first mitzvah, the first commandment we are to do immediately after Yom Kippur is to begin to build a sukkah. The sukkah is a temporary structure, as fragile as we are mortal, yet filled with life and joy. In Rabbi [Sari] Laufer’s words: “We move from the edge of mortality into the next right thing – a celebration of abundance, of family and friends, of light and wind and sun and rain.” Soon, we will build; we will do that next right thing, helping to hold each other as we climb back up to life.