2021 High Holidays Services & Activities Guide

A TIME TO RETURN

In English, we refer to the High Holiday season as “a time to repent,” but repentance isn’t actually an accurate translation of the Hebrew, “הבושת, teshuva.” In fact, teshuva comes from the Hebrew root shuv meaning “return.” So the High Holidays are “a time to return” and what better message could there be for the year 5782?

In general, when we talk about “a time to return” on the High Holidays, we are referring to returning to our relationship with God, returning to our best selves, or returning to the path God meant for us. This year it has a more basic meaning—it is a time to return to “normal life,” to activities we used to do, and to our WJC community. As we explore what it means to ‘return to life’ knowing that COVID-19 is still with us and likely will be for longer than we’d hoped, we are pleased that our knowledge of the situation and time to prepare allows us to offer this more robust set of services and High Holiday experiences than was possible last year.

Please note: These plans may be subject to change at any time right up until the start of High Holiday services. As always, we will do our best to be transparent in our decision-making and timely in our communication. Please check the weekly WJC emails and wjcenter.org for the most up-to-date information.