The Repentance Road

Press on, make progress, don’t look back. These are common themes in the teaching at Shalom Macon. But there is a time to look back and do some serious soul searching. That time is starting very soon, as we begin our journey through Elul and enter the fall festivals, the High Holidays. It starts with seeing the path, so let’s get started!

The season of repentance is in full swing now. The month of Elul brings our focus to repentance and positive change. Sounds great, but how do we do it? How do we succeed?

There are 4 steps to repentance. We’ve covered the first three, but the fourth part is considered the most important, the commanded component — confession. But why? What’s happening when we confess our transgression? What does “I’m sorry” really accomplish?

Is forgiveness a part of repentance? If I’ve been wronged, and no one has apologized, how can I be expected to repent? When we see repentance for what it really is, a turning, forgiveness fits within it. When we decide to turn, we see the true power and freedom of forgiveness in our lives.

We’ve walked the Repentance Road for 4 weeks in this series. Hopefully, we’ve learned the steps to take, prepared for the challenges ahead, and set our hearts and minds on being transformed during the upcoming High Holidays. In this conclusion, Rabbi Damian shares a powerful action step for us all to take as we enter the gates of repentance on Rosh Hashanah.