Resource Category: Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, can be a challenging subject for a lot of people. For some, it is a chance to make resolutions, accept the past, and commit to a better future. But for those struggling with mental illness, this process of self-criticism and introspection can be devastating to their mental health. Therefore, we all must do our best to cultivate self-acceptance and, above all, self-forgiveness, in a healthy and collected manner.

Yom Kippur and Tu B’Av: When Love is the Only Answer

On the surface, this all seems like a strange pairing of holidays. The two traditions and atmosphere of the two could not be more different. Yom Kippur, an auspicious day of judgment traditionally marked with fasting and repenting for our sins of the previous year and Tu B’Av, the Jewish holiday of love. It is even more strange that a day as auspicious as Yom Kippur be called a “joyous” day dedicated to matchmaking. However, if you consider the fact that Tu B’Av follows the emotionally strenuous holiday of Tisha B’Av, there is actually one area of significant overlap between the two days.
Read more

High Holiday Liturgy Viewed Through the Lens of Depression

Imagine for a moment you live with depression. It is not a family member or loved one who has depression — you are the patient. You are suffering. You are in so much pain and your brain is so ill, you have thoughts of suicide. Next, consider the liturgy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: We are commanded to “choose life.” Teshuva, Tefilla and Tzedakah, repentance, prayer and charity, are your ticket to the Book of Life for another year.
Read more

Being Written for Life

On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on the fast of Yom Kippur, it is sealed. . . This piyyut (liturgical poetry), the Un’taneh Tokef, is perhaps the most famous of all the liturgy of the Yamim Nora’im/Days of Awe. It tells of how our fates for the coming year will be written in the Book of Life. That book, we are told, is opened during the High Holy Days, and we read it together with G-d. What is written? Our lives. We look back at pages we have embossed with our deeds and misdeeds, active and passive. And we ask G-d to help us write a better page next year. For G-d to help us cope with all the hardships and blessings that come our way: flood, famine, plague, restlessness. To write us for life, for a good life.
Read more

Making Peace with Our Struggles

On Yom Kippur we must recognize the Jewish approach to reflecting on wrongdoings and not despair. We try to hold onto hope and persevere, recognizing the only way forward is to keep moving. In life we dip or sway and even move backward at times, but as long as we are moving somewhere, we are on a path toward growth.
Read more

Yom Kippur with an Eating Disorder

For most adults, these are uncomfortable but benign practices whose pain is quickly forgotten when the fast is over. Unfortunately, the experience of fasting can be much more challenging for someone struggling with disordered eating...
Read more

Tikkun Hanefesh as Tikkun Olam

Rosh Hashanah is a time to celebrate the end of one year and all of its accomplishments and the beginning of another year and all of its potential. For many, this involves resolutions of self-betterment and/or growth as well as a dedication to the pursuit of tikkun olam, improving the world. Before we can repair our world, however, we must begin to repair ourselves.
Read more

The 12 Steps of Atonement Anonymous

The High Holidays are the holiest days of the Jewish calendar and consist of the Days of Awe, a ten-day period of reflection and repentance that begins on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and ends on Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement.” Yet what is intended to be a period of transformation can be easily corrupted by uncontrolled self criticism, leading to destructive consequences on the practitioner's mental health. Thankfully, Judaism creates a foundation we can use as a springboard to take care of our mental well-being while undergoing this reflection. We invite you to explore these steps, executing them in any order you think best matches your personal needs and aspirations for the holiday season.
Read more

Staying Positive: Repentance and Eating Disorder Recovery on Yom Kippur

Among the myriad of traditions and prayers experienced on Yom Kippur, two stand out: fasting and repentance. For most adults, these are uncomfortable but benign practices whose pain is quickly forgotten when the fast is over. Unfortunately, the experience of fasting can be much more challenging for someone struggling with disordered eating. The rhythm of the holiday, with its large meals before and after the period of fasting, can be at best extremely stressful to someone in treatment for an eating disorder. At worst, it can be dangerous — both physically and emotionally. A person in recovery will often be assigned a structured meal plan of set portions at set times in an effort to establish a pattern of healthy eating. This schedule is crucial to their recovery, and disrupting this pattern at sensitive stages of recovery can be extremely harmful to the recovery process. Putting the brain and body into a state of deprivation can also be detrimental to the biology and chemistry of the brain.
Read more