High Holy Days 5786

Preparing Our Heads and Hearts for the High Holy Days
Message from Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan, 

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley, Sun City, Arizona

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As the days of Elul draw us closer to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we enter a sacred time of reflection, renewal, and return. The High Holy Days are not simply holidays marked on a calendar — they are opportunities to pause, to listen inwardly, and to realign our lives with our deepest values. The High Holy Days give us an opportunity to reconnect with Judaism.

Our Temple is devoted to helping people to do the thinking and feeling work that we need to do to make ourselves more thoughtful and more in touch with their emotions. While we may be located in Sun City, we reach out to the entire West Valley, an area with possibly as many as 20,000 people of Jewish origin, almost all of whom are unaffiliated. We do our best to meet the spiritual needs of people of all ages as well as all backgrounds.

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Rosh Hashanah, the birthday of the world, invites us to begin again. It is a time to ask: Who have I been this past year? Whom have I hurt? Where have I grown? We offer courses based on positive psychology which are designed to help us to reach our full human potential.

We sound the shofar not only to wake ourselves from spiritual slumber, but to remind ourselves that change is possible — even now, even for us. While acquiring material objects has its place in life, Judaism teaches us that there is much more. 

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, offers us the courage to face our mistakes with honesty and compassion. It is not about pointless guilt but about meaningful emotional growth. Teshuvah — returning to the person we are meant to be — is the work of the season. It requires humility, accountability, forgiveness and/or Letting Go, both from ourselves and from others.

Many of us have walked long paths in life, and yet the High Holy Days remind us that renewal is always within reach. No matter our age or stage, our souls are still unfolding. Let us approach these days with open hearts, with sincerity in prayer, and with a readiness to heal relationships — with family, with community, and with God.

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May this season uplift us, inspire us, and guide us toward a sweeter, more compassionate new year.

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Shanah Tovah U’Metukah — a good and sweet year to you all.