The Jewish high holidays are a period to collectively repent for our wrongdoings over the last year, and imagine how we will enact our ethical values in the year to come.
It is traditional in the time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, known as the “Days of Awe,” to reflect on the past year, repent, and seek forgiveness. The traditional liturgy focuses on confessing our transgressions during the Days of Awe. Even if they are not transgressions that we have committed personally, we collectively seek forgiveness as part of our community.
In 2021/5782, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) and IfNotNow Toronto collaborated to create an alternative version of some of the traditional transgressions to focus them on the injustice in Israel-Palestine. In this resource, which we are launching in 2023/5784, examples have been added to each of these transgressions to illustrate the real ways Palestinian people are affected.
This resource can be used by anyone hoping to incorporate Palestine solidarity into the high holidays for the year 5784.