Three Pathways to God

Every year, Jewish people in Israel and around the world take a special spiritual journey.
And on today’s podcast, host Yael Eckstein shares how preparing for the upcoming High Holy Days can teach us all—Christians and Jews, alike—about connecting with God and ourselves.
In coming weeks, Yael will explore how the sounds of the shofar awaken the soul; how Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, teaches us about the gift of repentance; and how Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, teaches us the power of forgiveness. We’ll discover the blessings of unity that Sukkot,the Feast of Tabernacles, teaches. And we’ll see how this holy season ends with a celebration of God’s Word on Simchat Torah—bringing God and His word with us into the new year.
Yael begins the journey by looking at the three spiritual paths—repentance, prayer, and charity—that help prepare us for the High Holy Days. Join us for this unique spiritual journey.
Episode Notes:
Right now, Jews around the world are preparing for the holiest time on the Jewish calendar, known as the High Holy Days. This holy season begins with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and concludes ten days later with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. While these are the two main holy days, the High Holy Days season also includes: Sukkot,the Feast of Tabernacles; Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Day of Assembly; and Simchat Torah, whose name literally means “rejoicing in the Torah.”
Each year, Jews begin this spiritual journey in the month of Elul, a time of intense reflection—known in Hebrew cheshbon hanefesh, “an accounting of the soul.” As Yael says, “This is a time to ask ourselves what bad habits are holding me back from who I want to be? What change do I need to make in my life? Spiritually, it is a time to lay the groundwork for real and lasting change in the year to come.”
Yael explains that we are guided along this journey by the three paths, or pillars, of the High Holy Days—repentance, prayer, and charity.
Repentance, teshuvah in Hebrew, is about taking a moment to examine our hearts and see the places in our lives where God needs to be invited back in. Through teshuvah, whose root word is shuv, meaning “return,” we return to God and our true selves by realigning our intentions and aspirations with His will.
The second path is prayer, the foundation of our relationship with God. Through prayer, tefillah in Hebrew, we develop our love for God and experience His love for us. “When we strengthen our love for God through our prayers,” Yael says, “we develop effective skills to be open to blessings so that His love pours down on us.”
Which brings us to the final path, charity. In Hebrew, the word for charity is tzedakah. It is comprised of two Hebrew words: tzedek (justice or righteousness), and kah, a name of God. Together, these words describe charity as “the justice of God,” and as “righteous giving.” Charity is not just a good deed we do; it’s our righteous duty.
“This is the manifestation of God’s love,” Yael says. ”When we fill up our cup, we can then fill the cups of others… His love can keep flowing through us to others through tzedakah.”
These are the three paths we follow during our spiritual journey through Elul—returning to ourselves and to God through repentance, strengthening our love for Him through prayer, and sharing our blessings with others.
Learn more about Preparing for the High Holy Days by visiting our Learn Center.