The Jewish New Year Is One Month Away. Let’s Get Ready Together
- Congregation Kol Ami
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Today, August 13, is also Rosh Chodesh Elul, the beginning of our journey toward the Jewish New Year.
Rosh Hashanah is only one month away. Are we ready? Not just with our meals, plans, and holiday clothes, but in our hearts?
The Hebrew month of Elul begins our spiritual preparation for the New Year. It is a time to slow down, reflect on the year behind us, repair what needs our attention, and think about who we want to become in the year ahead.
Rabbi Alan Lew writes, “The great journey of transformation begins with the acknowledgment that we need to make it.”
That is the opportunity Elul gives us. Transformation begins when we are willing to look honestly at ourselves and recognize where change is needed. We are not here to judge ourselves harshly. We are here to know ourselves more fully and move forward with greater awareness, compassion, and purpose.
Preparing Our Hearts: An Elul Journey Through Hasidut, Kabbalah, and Mussar
Please join me for a five-week Zoom class taught in English.
Wednesdays, August 12 through September 912:00 to 1:00 PM on Zoom
Each week, we will explore Elul, teshuvah, and the High Holidays through Jewish texts and the traditions of Hasidut, Kabbalah, and Mussar.
Bring your lunch and give yourself one hour for learning, reflection, and preparation.
Our journey will include:
August 12, Wake Up: Why does Judaism give us Elul?
August 19, Return: Teshuvah as returning to our deepest selves
August 26, Repair: Forgiveness, relationships, and honest self-examination
September 2, Stand Before God: Awe, judgment, and divine compassion
September 9, Choose Life: Preparing to cross the threshold into the New Year
Zoom Registration
Celebrating 250 Years of America and American Jewish Life
As America marks its 250th birthday, Kol Ami is taking the opportunity to explore the relationship between Jewish tradition and American ideals.
This theme will be woven throughout our High Holiday sermons, study, discussions, youth programs, and interactive activities. We will explore freedom, justice, belonging, home, family, history, civil society, and hope.
This is a landmark year. It is also a time when the ground beneath our feet can feel like it is shifting.
What has America meant to the Jewish people? How have Jewish communities helped shape America? What has this country made possible for Jewish life? Where has America fallen short of its ideals? What responsibility do we have for writing the next chapter?
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, “My heritage as a Jew and my occupation as a judge fit together symmetrically. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of Jewish history and Jewish tradition.”
Her words remind us that American Jewish life is not only a story of what America has given to us. It is also a story of what Jewish values call us to give to America. Our tradition asks us to pursue justice, protect human dignity, welcome the stranger, care for our neighbors, and take responsibility for the society we share.
Rosh Hashanah Highlights
We have some wonderful new experiences planned this year.
Our first Rosh Hashanah Sunrise Meditation Walk and Mini Seder: Join us on the first morning of the New Year. We will walk, reflect, hear the shofar beneath the open sky, and share symbolic foods that express the themes of the High Holidays: renewal, sweetness, courage, abundance, peace, and gratitude.
Rosh Hashanah lunch and Tashlich at a special new location in Kirkland: After services, we will gather for a catered picnic lunch, time with friends, and Tashlich beside the water. Bring a blanket and comfortable walking shoes. Space is limited to 50 people. The location will be shared upon registration.
A special children’s program: Our children will explore the themes of the High Holidays through creative, age-appropriate activities. They will learn, have fun, build friendships, and deepen their connection to Jewish life.
As we prepare for 5787, let us bring our questions, our hopes, and our whole selves.
We cannot know exactly what the coming year will bring. But we can choose how we will enter it. We can choose reflection over distraction, community over isolation, and hope over despair.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught, “In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”
Hope is not pretending that everything will be easy. Hope means accepting that we have a role to play. It is the decision to believe that our actions matter and that, together, we can help make the world better.
Whether Kol Ami is already your spiritual home, you are returning after time away, or you are exploring Jewish community for the first time, there is a place for you here.
Come learn, reflect, celebrate, and prepare with us.
Rosh Hashanah begins Friday evening, September 11, 2026. Reservations are required for both in-person and Zoom participation.
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