Tishrei is the first month of the Jewish year, a month filled with beginnings, celebration, reflection, and return. As the natural world begins to shift from summer into autumn, we too are invited to pause at a point of transition: to look at where we have been, to notice where we are standing now, and to consider what kind of year we want to create.
Tishrei carries a different energy than Elul. Elul prepares us to look inward; Tishrei asks us to step forward. We have reflected, listened, and taken stock. Now we enter a new year with the possibility of beginning again.
At the heart of Tishrei is the idea of new beginnings. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish year, but beginning again does not mean erasing what came before. We bring the lessons, relationships, mistakes, growth, and experiences of the past year with us. A new beginning can be an opportunity to choose differently, to reconnect with what matters, and to imagine who we want to become.
The Hebrew letter associated with Tishrei is ל - Lamed, the tallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Its shape reaches upward, suggesting aspiration, learning, and movement beyond ourselves. The word lamed is connected to learning and teaching. As we enter a new year, Lamed can invite us to remain open: to keep learning from what has happened, from the people around us, and from the experiences still ahead.
Tishrei is also deeply connected to love and connection with God. The holidays of the month create a journey of closeness. On Rosh Hashanah, we recognize God as King; on Yom Kippur, we turn inward and seek forgiveness and repair; and on Sukkot, we move outside and dwell in a temporary structure, surrounded by the presence of the Divine.
This movement can be understood as a journey toward relationship. We are not simply trying to become “better” people in isolation. We are considering how we relate - to God, to ourselves, to other people, and to the world around us.
The practices of teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah are central to this period. Teshuvah asks us to return and repair. Tefillah gives us a way to speak, listen, express gratitude, and bring our inner world into relationship with something greater than ourselves. Tzedakah moves us beyond ourselves and toward responsibility for others. Together, they remind us that transformation is both internal and relational.
The Ten Days of Teshuvah between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur offer a concentrated period for this work. We are given the chance to revisit our choices and relationships, acknowledge where we have missed the mark, and make changes where we can. Teshuvah is not only about feeling sorry. It is about movement - recognizing what needs to change and taking steps toward repair.
This idea of repair and reconnection can extend far beyond our relationship with God. Perhaps there is a friendship that needs attention, an apology that needs to be offered, a boundary that needs to be strengthened, or a part of ourselves that we have neglected. The beginning of a new year creates space to ask: What is ready to be repaired? What am I ready to reconnect with?
Tishrei also arrives with the changing of the seasons. Autumn is a season of harvest - a time when we begin to see the results of what has been planted and tended throughout the year. The harvest offers a powerful metaphor for our own lives. What have we been growing? What has flourished? What has not grown in the way we hoped? And, perhaps most importantly, what seeds do we want to plant for the year ahead?
The astrological sign of Tishrei is Libra - מאזניים, associated with scales and balance. Whether or not we engage with astrology, the image of scales offers a meaningful metaphor for this season. The High Holidays ask us to take an honest measure of our lives: balancing where we have been with where we hope to go, self-reflection with action, accountability with compassion, and our own needs with our responsibilities to others.
Then comes Sukkot, when we leave the permanence of our homes and enter the temporary space of the sukkah. The sukkah can be experienced as an image of God’s embrace - a structure that surrounds us, shelters us, and reminds us that we are held even within uncertainty and impermanence.
There is something powerful about celebrating a new beginning not inside a permanent, protected structure, but in a temporary one. The sukkah has open sides and a fragile roof. It allows us to feel both vulnerable and held. It reminds us that we cannot control everything about the year ahead, but we can enter it with trust, connection, and openness.
Sukkot is also known as Zman Simchateinu - the Time of Our Joy. After the intensity of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we are invited to celebrate. Joy becomes part of the spiritual work. We gather, eat, welcome guests, spend time outdoors, and appreciate what we have been given.
Perhaps this is one of Tishrei’s deepest movements: from reflection, to repair, to relationship, to joy.
We look back, but we do not remain there. We make amends, reconnect, and then step forward. We enter the new year carrying both the lessons of the past and the possibility of something new.
Perhaps beginning again does not require knowing exactly where we are going. Perhaps it is enough to ask what we want to cultivate, what we want to repair, and what we want to make room for.
As we enter the new year, may we return to our roots, grow toward what is good, and feel held in the embrace of Hashem.
This month, we invite you to reflect:
- What am I ready to begin again?
- What in my life is asking to be repaired or reconnected?
- What have I been growing this past year?
- What do I want to cultivate in the year ahead?
- Where could I create more balance in my life?
- What relationship - with myself, another person, or God - would I like to bring closer?
- What would it mean to feel held, even when life feels uncertain?
- What can I celebrate as I enter this new year?