Difficult though Jewish faith is, it has had the effect through history of leading us to say: If bad things have happened, let us blame no one but ourselves, and let us labour to make them better. It was this that led Jews, time and again, to emerge from tragedy, shaken, scarred, limping like Jacob after his encounter with the angel, yet resolved t

On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed, who will live and who will die… but Teshuvah [returning, turning, repentance], Prayer, and Righteous Deeds can transform [ma’avirin] the evil of the decree.

Acceptance of what is, is a failure to hear the call of what ought to be. Judaism has its moments of serenity, such as the Sabbath. But these are mere resting places on the journey; pauses of withdrawal before reengaging with the world.

Teshuvah begins with a turn, a turn away from the external world and toward the inner realm of the heart.