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Virtual Yom Kippur Box

Prayer book titled "virtual yom kippur box" with tallit and shofar

Your Virtual Yom Kippur Box holds hand-picked resources for your reflection. For more High Holiday resources, visit our High Holidays Collection for 2021/5782.

 

Read: Psalm 27 for the People of Afghanistan

We cry out for Divine justice and compassion for us and all the world. Martha Hurvitz’s poem/prayer reminds us of the immediate needs of the Afghani people. Sourced from Ritualwell 

yellow lit photo of electric poles and wires in a dusty area of kabul, afghanistan with mountains barely visible in the background and silouhettes of two people

 

Listen: Luley

Psalm 27 is recited daily from the first of Elul through the end of Sukkot. This version, written by Rabbi Margot Stein and sung by MIRAJ, focuses on the final two lines of the psalm, which express a longing for a healed world. Sourced from ReconstructingJudaism.org 

Read: ‘Unetaneh Tokef’ for Black Lives

Both the Unetaneh Tokef prayer and the impact of the list of killings of Black Americans inspired Imani Romney-Rosa Chapman to create this piyyut (liturgical poem). Sourced from Ritualwell

back of a person in a crowd

 

Watch: Feeling Grief and Hope Through the Shofar Blast

Rabbi Deborah Waxman explores these themes and the awe that the shofar blasts continue to inspire in this High Holiday 5782 message. Sourced from ReconstructingJudaism.org

High Holidays 2021/5782: Feeling Grief and Hope Through the Shofar Blast

 

Read: Meditative Avodah Service

Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz reimagines the Avodah Service of the High Priest in the ancient Jerusalem Temple, the ultimate point of the Yom Kippur observance of our ancestors. Sourced from Ritualwell

person blowing a shofar

 

Listen/Watch: ‘This Be Dear to Me’

Composed by David Berkeley and arranged by Will Robertson, this contemporary psalm is performed by the Chorus and Strings of Congregation Bet Haverim of Atlanta. Sourced from ReconstructingJudaism.org

This Be Dear to Me

 

Read: Future Prayer

Ellen Dannin shares her words for a possible future prayer not yet in our mahzor, one all the generations after us will recite. Sourced from ReconstructingJudaism.org 

sunlight coming through trees in a forest

 


Yom Kippur Resources 2020/5781

Read: Avinu Malkeinu for This Time

Person covering their head with a white tallit with black stripes

Sabrina Sojourner composes new words for an old prayer that pointedly speaks to today. Sourced from Ritualwell

 


Read: Unetaneh Tokef for Black Lives

crowd of diverse people facing away from the viewer

The words of the Unetaneh Tokef — a prayer that inspires fear and awe during the High Holidays — and the killings of Black Americans inspired this poem by Imani Romney-Rosa Chapman. Sourced from Ritualwell


Listen: A River of Forgiveness by Rosa Blumenfeld

A River of Forgiveness by Reconstructing Judaism

There was a river in the Garden of Eden. When it left the Garden, it split into four and flowed out into the world so that we would always be connected to the Garden and have a place in our hearts to call home. God knew that we would need that so as to not lose track of ourselves and our own goodness when we made mistakes. Sourced from Reset. For more practices, sign up for Harvesting Resilience: 30 Days of Spiritual Practice Before the Election. Receive a daily 5-minute practice to nourish your heart, mind and spirit. Register here!


Read: The Other Jewish View of Forgiveness

photo of Louis E. Newman

Many Jewish texts, ancient and modern, encourage us to forgive those who injure us, even when they themselves have not acknowledged the injury or asked for forgiveness. Louis E. Newman reminds us that when we forgive, we let go of our injury and can proceed with compassion. Sourced from Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations

 

Listen: Review, Release and Restart

monochrome photo of smiling man and woman embracing on a bridge

Phil Straus composed this choral arrangement that captures the essence of Yom Kippur and the process of teshuvah. Sourced from Ritualwell

 

Watch: Learning to Grieve, Learning to Praise: Jeremiah and the Poetry of Yom Kippur

Learning to Grieve, Learning to Praise: Jeremiah and the Poetry of Yom Kippur

For many of us, the experience of quarantine has brought to the fore grief that we’ve been carrying around unexpressed or even unknown. In this teaching, Rabbi Joshua Boettiger examines the praise within our grief and observes that the two are inextricably intertwined. Sourced from ReconstructingJudaism.org

 


Watch: The Sounds of the Shofar: It’s More than You Think

Recon Connect Beit Midrash - The Sounds of the Shofar

In an exploration of the meaning behind each of the three different sounds of the shofar blasts, Rabbi Elyse Wechterman shows that each sound is supposed to bring to mind a uniquely different perspective on the themes of this holiday season. Sourced from Recon Connect Beit Midrash
 


These resources were drawn from: