High Holidays for a CHANGE

WHEN: Tuesday, August 10, 2010, 7:15 – 8:45 PM

WHERE: Congregation Kerem Shalom, 659 Elm St., Concord, MA (www.keremshalom.org).

Cost: $10.

Begin a 60-day spiritual journey that leads up to and includes the Jewish New Year season with all its holidays.  Our journey will be based on Rabbi Simon Jacobson’s book called “60 Days: A Spiritual Guide to the High Holidays.”

We’ll start by reviewing the Jewish calendar, with a special focus on the month of Elul, whose new moon occurs on the night of August 10.  Elul is traditionally a month of introspection and “spiritual reckoning” in preparation for the Jewish New Year.   Each participant will be encouraged to consider — privately, for him- or herself — questions including the following:

– What were my goals for the previous year?
– Did I accomplish what I set out to do?
– What were my successes?  What were my challenges?
– Whom did I hurt?
– How shall I right my wrongs?

And, looking to the coming new year:
– What are my goals?
– What areas of my life do I want to work on?

Using Jacobson’s book as a guide, we’ll look at ways to approach the upcoming year in three categories of relationship:
– My relationship with Gd
– My relationships with other people
– My relationship with myself

We’ll also examine possible ways of sorting our goals into three groups, according to the Talmudic saying:

“The world stands on three things: Torah, service, and acts of loving-kindness.”

Another way to view these three things could be
– Intellectual
– Emotional
– Action-oriented

We will each consider setting up a daily journal specifically to cover the next 60 days, using Rabbi Jacobson’s daily essays and probing questions as guideposts along our spiritual journeys.

If there’s group interest, we’ll plan some follow-up gatherings for sharing our journeys as they progress through the 30 days of Elul and the following 30 days of the holiday-rich month of Tishrei.

Sign up for the free daily emails at http://meaningfullife.com/subscribe/.  Purchase the book at this event, your local bookstore, or online.

Are you ready for real transformation?  The journey begins on the First of Elul!

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