A core part of the original Yom Kippur experience was the High Priest taking two goats, sacrificing one in the Holy of Holies in the ancient temple, and sending one off into the wilderness carrying the sins of the whole community. The second goat is sent off to “Azazel” the unknown wilderness, this connection to wilderness is core to the Yom Kippur experience. I hope you find meaning and connection outdoors today in your journey.
Release yourself of expectations, allow unexpected animals, sounds, and plants to serve as your guides, and try to listen deeply to the wisdom of your surroundings. There are signs along the first half of the hike guiding some reflection and introspection, try them out if you are interested, or wonder off where you feel called to. There is no right way to participate in this experience, there is only your way!
—Amanda Herring, Manager of Jewish Life & Learning EDCJCCThe walk begins at the parking lot, you’ll follow the path to a bridge over the water, and then find guiding signs along the way until you reach Bluff Bridge (approximately 0.5 mi or 10 minutes). At bluff bridge, you’ll have the option to return back the way you came, or cross the bridge and take the more difficult unpaved and uneven path back (also 0.5 mi with some inclines and descents - approx. 15 min)
Before you cross the bridge to begin your mindful walk, find a rock or something to hold on your walk, an object to carry with you as you take your journey.
“Grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass - among all growing things and there may I be alone, and enter into prayer, to talk with the One to whom I belong. May I express there everything in my heart, and may all the foliage of the field - all grasses, trees, and plants - awake at my coming, to send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer so that my prayer and speech are made whole through the life and spirit of all growing things, which are made as one by their transcendent Source. May I then pour out the words of my heart before your Presence like water, O L-rd, and lift up my hands to You in worship, on my behalf, and that of my children!”
- Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
Yom Kippur is God’s way of allowing us to recalculate the course of our lives.
- Shimon Apisdorf
God’s answer in the wilderness:
A certain rebbe had a close disciple who fell into a long period of staleness that troubled him deeply. He felt as if all meaning had been drained from his life, and when he prayed, his prayers turned to chalk and died in his mouth before he could utter them. The rebbe, aware of his disciples' problem, took him out of the village to a deep, dark forest. Before they entered the forest, the rebbe said to the student, “As you are entering the forest, ask God to give you the answer to your dilemma, then forget this prayer, because you must pay very close attention to the path through the forest. Otherwise you’ll get lost and never come out of the forest alive.”
So the student entered the forest asking God for the answer to his struggle, and then he lost himself in following the path. As his rabbi had instructed him, he devoted all his attention to the path itself. Soon he began to take great pleasure in the path. He took pleasure in the working of his body as it found its own pace on the path and an in the fall of his foot on the cool forest floor. He was taken with the path itself, a verdant mossy path of deep, brilliant green. When he finally came out of the forest, he was smiling broadly. The rebbe asked “Did God give you an answer?” The student started to weep. “I forgot all about the question,” he said. “I put all my attention on the path, and after a while I took so much pleasure in what was in front of my face that I forgot about the question altogether.” “In that case,” the rebbe said, “I would say that God gave you your answer.”
—This is Real and You are Completely unprepared, Rabbi Alan Lew, pg. 171-172
The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the most important thing is not to be afraid.
Before the Amidah prayer, the central prayer of the morning service, many people take three steps back and three steps forward, in order to “enter” a space of prayer.
Perhaps take 3 steps backward and forward now as you begin your journey.
“When you walk, arrive with every step. That is walking meditation. There’s nothing else to it.”
Thích Nhãt Hanh Kol Ha'Olam Kulo gesher tzar maod v'haikar lo l'fached klal
Breath in. Breath out. Bless your body, all the parts that work together in order for you to breath, walk, stand, and see, and the fact that your body can heal. Give yourself a big hug, thank your miraculous body.
Return again, return again, return to the land of your soul. Return to who you are. Return to what you are. Return to where you are born and reborn.
Every Yom Kippur, Jewish tradition requires a strict spiritual inventory. You aren’t supposed to just sit around feeling guilty, but to take action in the real world to set things right.
- Naomi WolfHashiveinu Adonai eilecha, v’nashuvah. Chadeish yameinu k’kedem.
Help us return to You, O God, then truly shall we return. Renew our days as in the past.
Lamentations 5:19
Those who go on fretting themselves with repentance, those who torture themselves with the idea that their acts of penance are not sufficient, withhold their best energies from the work of reversal. It is written: “Turn from evil and do good” (Psalm 34:15). You have done wrong? Then counteract it by doing right.
- Martin Buber
This is the blessing upon seeing especially beautiful creatures or trees, pick something to bless, and try these words for blessing in English or in Hebrew, or make up your own:
“Blessed are you, source of life, connector of all things, that there is such as this in your world”
Baruch ata adonai eloheinu melech ha’olam shekacha lo be’olamo
The Journey - Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice— though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible.
It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do— determined to save the only life you could save.
Close your eyes and listen: How many things can you hear? Don’t move on until you can name five.
Today I decided to forgive you. Not because you apologized, or because you acknowledged the pain that you caused me, but because my soul deserves peace.
-Najwa ZebianLook up and count three things in the sky.
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
-Mahatma GandhiHow many shades of green do you see?
Heenaynee
Here I am.
A little bit nervous, a bit self-conscious. After all, who am I talking to? And what have I done?
Am I a sinner in search of grace or a saint seeking salvation?
Am I so evil or so good as to warrant this season of introspection? And yet here it is, and here I am: this time of change and correction, this heart of confusion and contrition.
Oh, if I could change!
If I could be so sure of myself that I no longer had to imagine the slights of others; to be so loving of myself that I no longer had to ration my loving of others; to be so bold with myself that I no longer had to fear the bravery of others. Oh, if I could change there is so much I would change. Maybe I will, but it scares me so. Maybe I won’t and that should scare me more. But it doesn’t. So let me pray just this: Let no one be put to shame because of me. Wouldn’t that make this a wonderful year? Heenaynee -Here I am!
-Rabbi Rami M. ShapiroIf you stand in the path, this direction is East. Many Jews face East as they pray to direct their prayers towards Jerusalem. Point in the direction of where you think your home is located.
Why Forgive?
Forgiveness is a door to peace and happiness. It is a small, narrow door and cannot be entered without stooping. It is also hard to find. But no matter how long the search, it can be found… When we forgive someone for a mistake or a deliberate hurt, we still recognize it as such, but instead of lashing out or biting back; we attempt to see beyond it, so as to restore our relationship with the person responsible for it.
Our forgiveness may not take away our pain – it may not even be acknowledged or accepted – yet the act of offering it will keep us from being sucked into the downward spiral of resentment. It will also guard us against the temptation of taking out our anger or hurt on someone else.
Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act; it means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning.
-Johann Christoph ArnoldWhat is something you need to apologize for from the past year? Sometimes it’s really hard to tell a person, can you tell your object?
We should not be the same person the day after Yom Kippur that we were the day before Yom Kippur. We should be moving ahead, raising our lives to a higher level.
-Rabbi Marc D. Angelונילוק עמש
shma koleinu - hear our voice
What do you want to say to God today? If you knew you would be heard, what would you want to tell the Source of All Life, the Spirit of the Universe?
Some people may be fasting today from food and water, some may refrain from using their phone or social media, does giving something up make you more aware of other things?
Does it make space for something else?
What does it open up?
Land Acknowledgement:
Washington DC sits on the ancestral lands of the Anacostans (also documented as Nacotchtank), and over time neighboring the Piscataway and Pamunkey peoples. The District of Columbia shares borders with Maryland and Virginia, and connect with lands along the Anacostia and Potomac River. These river systems and current national parks are where the Piscataway, Pamunkey, the Nentego (Nanichoke), Mattaponi, Chickahominy, Monacan, and the Powhatan cultures thrived. According to the National Park Service, the region “was rich in natural resources and supported the local native people.” (American Library Association)
Consider the history of the land on which you walk, the soil under your feet, connect with the past of this place and give thanks for the natural resources that were cultivated over centuries for their beauty and abundance in order to be fully present in where you are today.
In the Torah portion traditionally read today, the high priest puts the sins of the whole community onto a goat who is sent off into the wilderness.
Today, you can symbolically “Cast off” your sins into the flowing water below, using the object you have carried on your hike. Once you have let go, how do you feel? Has a weight lifted?
You now have the option of turning around to return to the start, or continuing along the trail back to the start. The trail has two options, a moderate path and a strenuous path, both have some steep climbs but are only 0.5 mi and can be completed in 15 minutes. Listen to your body, especially if you are fasting, do what is right for you.
There are no more signs to find, you can use the stories and meditations in your booklet for inspiration, or simply walk in silence, or focus on your steps, your breath, or the beauty of nature.
