A FINAL WORD


In his book Seasons of Our Joy, Arthur Waskow calls the intense spiritual moment of Yom Kippur a "tallis in time". This is a time when our prayers, meditations and actions cover the confusions and shortcomings of our daily lives. Each of us intrinsically knows that we are unable to sustain this measure of self-monitoring over time. We understand that for ourselves and for our families, teshuva, the process of readjusting our aim, is ongoing and lifelong.

As we practice teshuva, we allow ourselves and our children to make mistakes and to grow with a heightened sensitivity to others. We know that we will come closer to our goals in the future, having made the effort to learn from our mistakes.