“In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”
~A. J. Heschel

A few weeks ago, sleepless for any number of reasons you can imagine, I reached for my phone, saw an Instagram post that caught my eye, got me to sit up, and gave me an idea for how to get my heart, mind & soul ready for the new Jewish year that is just around the corner.

My friend Omri Danino, an award-winning Israeli visual artist and poet, posted a stunning new painting entitled “We Are Guilty”. Omri spray-painted a single Hebrew word from the Yom Kippur liturgy of public confession onto a background imprint of a page from the Atonement Prayer Book. ‘Pashanu’ – We are Guilty. It shook me awake. I asked myself: What if we adapted each of the concepts that make up this alphabetical communal confession prayer (Viddui) and use it as a month-long journey in which we reflect on the ways we are complicit with the world’s wrongs??

How can art and collective intention help us respond to this challenging time and be better prepared for this sacred season?

Welcome to PREPENT 2024/5785:
A-Z Daily Reflections on Public Accountability into a Better New Jewish Year
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On a daily basis starting on September 3rd – the first day of Elul, the final month on the Jewish calendar – we will share original designs and digital reflections as conversation starters. We will also host two Zoom sessions (for Lab/Shul Partners only) to reflect on this process together. Zoom conversations will take place on September 13 + September 27.  As always, please keep your eye on our Lab/Shul calendar and our Instagram + Facebook to register for Lab/Shul programs.

PREPENT 2024/5785 content is co-created by our community partners and leaders. These posts are intended to help us all get into mental and spiritual shape at this threshold, taking the time to carefully prepare for this much needed time of reckoning, reflection and renewal. 

Prepent daily posts will be shared on weekdays from the New Moon of Elul (September 3, 2024) until the Eve of Yom Kippur (October 10, 2024).

As we travel through this month-long journey, we will push ourselves to step into the messy and navigate the complicated nuance of the moment as we explore some big questions:

  • How are we complicit with local, national, international and planetary wrongdoings that we may or may not agree with but cause physical and moral harm to ourselves, to others, to our planet – in our name?
  • What tough truths must we face so we can all grow?
  • How can we replace confrontational face-offs – in person and online – with face-to-face encounters that help us heal and hope?

Most of the time we prefer to look away, pretend it isn’t happening or come up with good excuses. But tough times such as these call for deeper work and a higher bar of accountability. The Jewish calendar invites us to take a good long look at some of the ways with which we are all complicit – so that we can do what we can to enable reflection, reckoning, revision of direction – and change for the better.

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Enjoy Labor Day Weekend – soak up as much sun as possible – and here’s to a tender and gentle transition, day by day, face to face, into a new and improved year.

With love and care,
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie
Co-Founder, Senior Clergy & Spiritual Leader