ATLANTA—There is no doubt the High Holidays 5781 will look drastically different this year. But while we are not celebrating together physically, we hope by sharing these resources, we can help bring the global Jewish community together in spirit.
A conversation on mental health can lead to powerful connections with the potential to save someone’s life. To help start people talking, we created some tools for individuals to reflect upon and improve their own mental health as well as to contribute to the mental wellness of the entire community as we look forward to a sweet new year:
- A Rosh Hashanah Self-Care Celebration focuses on the Jewish middah (value) of Simcha, or joy, and the different ways we can increase our mental well-being by taking care of our bodies, minds, hearts and spirits.
- Mental Health Tashlich emphasizes building mental health resilience and developing skills that strengthen our well-being in tandem with Jewish traditions.
- Sukkot Shleimut with Wholeness and Peacefulness takes the reader through a grounding Sukkot mindfulness activity geared toward wholeness and peace, ending with shaking a personal lulav and etrog.
- High Holiday Guide for Jewish Professionals provides clergy and lay leaders tools to bring the mental health conversation onto the bima through suggested High Holiday texts, special mental health mi sheberachs and mental health shofar blasts.
We encourage all Jewish organizations to share these resources with their members and the community. A marketing toolkit is available to make that as easy as possible.
About the Blue Dove Foundation
The Blue Dove Foundation was created to help address the issues of mental illness and addiction in the Jewish community and beyond. Based in Atlanta, we work with people and organizations across the United States and around the world. Our mission is to educate, equip and ignite our Jewish community with tools to understand, support and overcome the challenges presented by mental illness and substance abuse. As a community with a focus on tikkun olam, we work to eradicate the shame and stigma surrounding these issues. Visit us at thebluedovefoundation.org, and learn about what we’re doing to #QuietTheSilence and help individuals and organizations create programs and events focusing on mental health and substance use.
Contact
Gabby Spatt, executive director, the Blue Dove Foundation
gabby@thebluedovefoundation.org
(404) 490-2391