{"id":5028,"date":"2018-09-13T12:14:03","date_gmt":"2018-09-13T09:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/2018\/09\/13\/turning-returning-a-yom-kippur-poem"},"modified":"2018-09-13T12:19:15","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T09:19:15","slug":"turning-returning-a-yom-kippur-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/2018\/09\/13\/turning-returning-a-yom-kippur-poem\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning & Returning: A Yom Kippur Poem"},"content":{"rendered":"

This poetic prayer<\/a> by Rabbi Shelly Barnathan<\/a> asks God to help us connect to the pure essence of our divine soul on Yom Kippur – as both individuals and a community. Based on the idea that Teshuvah, often translated as “repentance,” is actually about “returning” to our true selves, this prayer sees Yom Kippur as an opportunity for a spiritual home coming and return to oneness.\u00a0Rabbi Shelly Barnathan is the rabbi of\u00a0Or Zarua, a co-constructed spiritual community that aims to meet the spiritual needs of baby boomers and empty nesters in Philadelphia. This piece was\u00a0shared on\u00a0Ritualwell.org<\/a>, a project of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College that provides a platform for creating new Jewish practices.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Turning and Returning<\/h3>\n

Teshuvah<\/em>… Turning and returning… To our breath, to our souls…<\/span><\/p>\n

Elohai\u00a0Neshamah<\/cite>\u00a0Shenatah Bi, Tehorah Hi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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My G-d, the\u00a0Neshamah<\/em>, the soul that you have given me is pure
\nYou have placed it within me, given it to me at birth…
\nWithin each one of us, there is a pure soul
\nA tender, soft place to which we can always return…<\/p>\n

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Today, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement… The Day of At-One-ment
\nWe open to our\u00a0Neshamot\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 to our pure, divine souls.
\nFinally becoming\u00a0at-one<\/strong>\u00a0with our truest selves….<\/p>\n

As the gates of\u00a0Teshuvah<\/em>\u00a0stand wide open to us on this Yom Kippur
\nLet us fully open our souls to forgiveness \u2013 forgiving loved ones, forgiving community
\nForgiving ourselves…<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Neshamah<\/em>, the breath of soul, allows us to access the Divine,
\nto reach the holy and sacred places within us\u2026
\nWe chant the prayer slowly and breathe its words:<\/p>\n

Elohai Neshamah Shenatah Bi, Tehorah Hi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We return to the\u00a0Neshamah<\/em>, the soul<\/p>\n

For it contains the breath, holds divinity, touches Oneness.
\nWe return to our true selves… our best selves… our pure selves.<\/p>\n

On this day of At-one-ment
\nLet us return to the best within us, individually and as a community<\/p>\n

Elohai Neshamah Shenatah Bi, Tehorah Hi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

My G-d, the soul of our community, the soul of each one of us<\/p>\n

Is pure.<\/p>\n

On this Day of At-one-ment,
\nWe ask you, G-d,
\nHelp us to open the gates of forgiveness
\nHelp us to access our pure souls
\nHelp us, Dear G-d, to finally be At-one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This poetic prayer by Rabbi Shelly Barnathan asks God to help us connect to the pure essence of our divine soul on Yom Kippur – as both individuals and a community. Based on the idea that Teshuvah, often translated as “repentance,” is actually about “returning” to our true selves, this prayer sees Yom Kippur as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[91],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5028\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=5028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5028\/revisions\/"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2523\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=5028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?post=5028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?post=5028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}