Kolot: Voices from The Ark Synagogue
Sep 5, 2026 · 11 min · 6 segments
In this sermon Rabbi Lea Mühlstein explores t’shuvah as a turning‑to‑God and a return to our truest selves, arguing that repentance is less a reset button and more a spiral that moves us forward. She…
Lea MühlsteinHost
As Hilton already alluded, one of the central themes of the High Holy Day season, which we will enter in earnest this evening with our Slichot service, is the concept of tshuva.
The word appears in one of the many names that we give to the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Aseret Yimei Tshuva, most commonly translated as the 10 days of repentance.
While
the translation of tshuva as repentance is widely used, the Hebrew word actually means return.
We read of Moses' vision of a time in the future when the Israelites have become scattered among other nations, having strayed from their relationship with God.
Our tradition teaches that at this season of turning, life itself can change direction.
The American reform rabbi, Jack Reamer, of blessed memory, captures this sense of movement in his poem, A Time of Turning, which is included in the beautiful High Holy Day anthology of readings edited by rabbis Andrew Goldstein and Charles Middleborough.
And if you don't yet have it, I think we might still have some copies for sale outside.
It's always struck me how timely the words feel at this season when we notice the first signs of summer coming to an end and realize that life itself does indeed change direction.
But Rima continues, for leaves, birds, and animals, turning comes instinctively.
For nature, change in direction comes naturally with the seasons following the gentle rhythm of the Earth tilting on its axis as it orbits the Sun.
As Hilton already alluded, one of the central themes of the High Holy Day season, which we will enter in earnest this evening with our Slichot service, is the concept of tshuva.
The word appears in one of the many names that we give to the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Aseret Yimei Tshuva, most commonly translated as the 10 days of repentance.
While
the translation of tshuva as repentance is widely used, the Hebrew word actually means return.
We read of Moses' vision of a time in the future when the Israelites have become scattered among other nations, having strayed from their relationship with God.
Our tradition teaches that at this season of turning, life itself can change direction.
The American reform rabbi, Jack Reamer, of blessed memory, captures this sense of movement in his poem, A Time of Turning, which is included in the beautiful High Holy Day anthology of readings edited by rabbis Andrew Goldstein and Charles Middleborough.
And if you don't yet have it, I think we might still have some copies for sale outside.
It's always struck me how timely the words feel at this season when we notice the first signs of summer coming to an end and realize that life itself does indeed change direction.
But Rima continues, for leaves, birds, and animals, turning comes instinctively.
For nature, change in direction comes naturally with the seasons following the gentle rhythm of the Earth tilting on its axis as it orbits the Sun.
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