A “Days of Awe” Retreat – Searching the Heart (part 2): A Practical Exercise – Day 5

by RabbiOlivier | Sep 9, 2013 | Adult Learning, High Holy Days Meditations

Like I promised yesterday, we are trading places for this exercise and will now be looking at the people we have hurt. The first few steps of the process are similar to what we already did: Begin by making a short list of people you know you have hurt. Some in big...

A “Days of Awe” Retreat – Searching The Heart: A Practical Exercise – Day 4

by RabbiOlivier | Sep 8, 2013 | Adult Learning, High Holy Days Meditations, Torah Reflections

This is the time in our retreat when we get to practice. We can hear about forgiving, we can read about forgiving, but all the books and the talks in the world won’t help if, at some point, we don’t roll up our sleeves and get to work. Now, your mind might...

“Days of Awe” Retreat – What Does it Mean to Forgive? Why do we Resist it? Day 3

by RabbiOlivier | Sep 8, 2013 | Adult Learning, High Holy Days Meditations, Torah Reflections

Forgiving does not come easy to us. Let’s be honest, the ego is not one to easily give up the past hurts, affronts, painful incidents, and grudges it holds onto in its memory bank. All of these past experiences have impacted us greatly, taught us a great deal,...

A “Days of Awe” Retreat – Back to Life, Back to Reality – Day 2

by RabbiOlivier | Sep 6, 2013 | Adult Learning, High Holy Days Meditations, Torah Reflections

The Ten Days of Awe between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, are an opportunity to enter into a time of personal retreat, the theme of which is “forgiveness.” The path of forgiveness is one of the most powerful spiritual paths available to us. Forgiving...

A “Days of Awe” Retreat – Day 9

by RabbiOlivier | Oct 15, 2012 | Adult Learning, High Holy Days Meditations

 Putting Our Name on The List – Day 9 If these Days of Awe have revealed anything to me this year so far, it is — above all — that the work has to start with us. Doing the work of forgiveness is far from easy, far from comfortable; yet if we commit...

A “Days of Awe” Retreat – Day 8

by RabbiOlivier | Oct 15, 2012 | Adult Learning, High Holy Days Meditations

Making Amends – Day 8 Making amends is truly when the rubber meets the road. We have done all this work forgiving others, and now we have to go out there and repair the damage we have done. If we worked on our letter yesterday, and rehearsed our conversation, we...