Cheshbon HaNefesh

As we enter the High Holy Days, let these prompts guide your journey of Jewish renewal practices, helping you return to yourself, to others, and to the sacred. These High Holy Days prompts can lead you toward repair and renewal.

1. Relationship with Self

Where have I been unkind or overly harsh with myself this year? What patterns or habits are keeping me from being the person I want to be? What would it look like to treat myself with compassion and accountability at the same time?

2. Relationship with Others

Who have I hurt—through words, neglect, or indifference—and how might I begin repair? Who have I not fully expressed gratitude or love to? What am I holding in resentment, and what would letting go (or at least softening) require of me? Where might I need to ask for forgiveness, and where might I need to extend it?

3. Relationship with the Divine / the Sacred

In what ways have I turned away from awe, wonder, or presence this year? When did I most feel aligned with something larger than myself? How can I seek more of that? What practices can help me return to a more sacred awareness in the coming year?

4. Justice and Repair (Tikkun Olam / Tzedek)

Where did I ignore the suffering of others because it was uncomfortable or inconvenient? What actions, small or large, can I take this year to help repair brokenness in my community or world? How can I align my financial, personal, or professional decisions more closely with my values?

5. Vision for the Year Ahead

What is unfinished from this past year that I don’t want to carry forward? What would a year of deeper integrity look like in practice? What one word or phrase could serve as my kavanah (intention) for 5786?

✨ A practice you might try: Write down three areas where you most feel called to do teshuvah (self, relationships, justice). For each, jot one specific step you can take between now and Yom Kippur to move toward repair or return, engaging in meaningful self-reflection.