Elul is the name of the Hebrew month that leads into Rosh Hashanah. It is a time for cheshbon ha-nefesh or “soul accounting” – looking inward and reflecting on the year that has passed.
The big idea of the season is teshuvah — “coming back” in every sense. To our truths, to each other, to core values. To your soul and the Divine within.
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Twice during Elul and twice on the High Holy Days we will study Torah this way and everyone is welcome! The sessions will be at the synagogue and on Zoom. We will led by Liz Macedo and Rachel Crain. Click here for more information. Thursday, August 13, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, and Monday, August 31 at 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Each week Cantor Harriet Dunkerley of Temple Adath Yeshurun in Manchester, Rabbi Marc Hersch of Temple Israel in Portsmouth, Rabbi Robin Nafshi of Temple Beth Jacob in Concord, and Rabbi Jon Spira-Savett of Temple Beth Abraham in Nashua will be on zoom. No RSVP needed and all are welcome! Fridays at noon -- August 21, August 28, September 4.
The chevra kadisha is a "sacred society" who prepare bodies for burial in a process known as tohorah ("cleansing" or "purification.") Come and learn from people involved in the groups here -- what they do, why they chose to join. Learn more about our Jewish rituals and customs when someone dies. Wednesday, September 2, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 5, 2026 at 8:00 pm
Every new year brings us face-to-face with both possibilities and pain. For ourselves or for people we love there may be physical pains or illness, which bring uncertainty about the year ahead. There may be emotional pain, from mental illness, from ongoing struggles in life, or as we recall people no longer with us. Tuesday, September 8, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm on Zoom.
A Video playlist
Are you a fan of The Good Place? It's a TV comedy about teshuvah. That’s not the terminology they ever use, but the show is an ingenious illumination of all kinds of teachings in Jewish tradition and sometimes improves on them! Tov! is a podcast that Rabbi Jon has been doing with a revolving group of rabbis and Jewish educators for the past two years. Visit the site or subscribe on your favorite app.
Rabbi Alan Lew explains how the Jewish calendar marks out seven stages for awakening our soul, from summer through the fall holy day
This brand-new book by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg draws from the teachings of Rabbi Moses Maimonides to push back against the American preference for narratives of redemption and letting-go over repair and restoration. Rabbi Ruttenberg applies traditional Jewish teachings to the kinds of personal and public wrongs that are characteristic of our current world.
