The Jewish High Holy Days: The MV Times talks with Rabbi Caryn Broitman

On a beautiful late August afternoon, I sat down with Rabbi Caryn Broitman for an interview about the upcoming Jewish High Holy Days. People commonly refer to them as the 10 days encompassing Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, which is devoted to self-examination, repair, and spiritual renewal.

You mentioned that the season of reflection starts 40 days before Rosh Hashanah even begins. Could you elaborate on this?

It starts the month before, which on the Jewish calendar is the month of Elul. The entire month is about preparation for the High Holidays. The prayers change, and we blow the shofar [ram’s horn] in the morning, except for Shabbat. The shofar awakens us to forgiveness, change, justice, and teshuvah, which means “return” in the sense of renewal. During [Elul], you are asking people for forgiveness and thinking about how you want to repair your relationships. It is reflecting on any way you could have caused harm or want to change. It’s to go back to go forward, almost.

It’s spiritually important to do a soul accounting. What work do I need to do to better live up to the values that I hold? How have I hurt people? Whom do I have to ask for forgiveness? How do I help clear the difficulties and repair relationships with family, friends, working relationships, or between people in the community? I think the wonderful thing about the Island is that community is really important to us. So I think a community time of prayer and rededication to each other and working together is a beautiful thing.

Rosh Hashanah itself is also empowering us to be able to think about change and transformation, and making a difference in our own lives and the lives of other people. There is a sense of hope in anything new, and there is also transformation.