Like many, I'm mourning the chance to "go" to High Holiday services at my synagogue. But I've also had the joy of observing Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur at home, so I know this year will be wonderfully meaningful.

It's a challenge and necessity, especially during this pandemic, to set boundaries between work time and family or personal time, between home office and home. How do we do that, emotionally?

Elul, our spiritual countdown to Yom Kippur, is different this year - and for many of us, this time of coronavirus has been a year of lost and found. But what have we gained?

The Unetaneh Tokef has a long list of ways that people die, often violently, a way of shocking us into realizing our mortality. The original prayer, however, can be traumatizing. This version seeks a more empathetic approach to mortality.

Like our ancestors before us, we must again bring worship “inside” and create a sacred space at home while we are in front of our computers.

As we approach the most unusual High Holidays in recent memory, ReformJudaism.org is here to help you find ways to observe, celebrate or commemorate the holiday season that work best for you. Here are some helpful tips.

1. Find streaming services.

2020 may

Rabbi Max Chaiken, our Ten Minutes of Torah commentator for the Book of Deuteronomy, is the associate rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in Los Angeles, CA. We talk to him about his Jewish journey and the ideas behind his commentaries.

If the High Holidays were to be pared down to their very essence, what are some words and phrases that might come to mind?

Belonging. Connection. Memory. An accounting of the soul.

These are just some of the words that drove the creation of the URJ

The rituals of our tradition help us reflect on the reality and permanence of death and loss, remind us of our need for belonging and connection to others, and keep us tethered to the beauty of living.