Download the worksheet and instructions to use with your family on Yom Kippur (or any day whether you are Jewish or not!)
On Yom Kippur, we talk so much about our “sins” and finding forgiveness. Did you know that the word for “sin” in Hebrew (chet—rhymes with state), actually means “missing the mark?” So instead of thinking of our wrongdoings as single-shot opportunities with bad intentions, perhaps we can start to think of them as well-meaning actions that didn’t quite land in the right place. (You can read more about it
here.)
Let’s use archery as our analogy, shall we?
• What do you have to do to get a bullseye?
• If you don’t get a bullseye the first time, do you give up?
• Is there more than one way to get a bullseye?
• To get a bullseye, do you have to do it on your own?
• If your bullseye is too small, maybe redraw the target!
With focus, every shot has the potential to help refine your technique for the next time. Use these strategies to explore how you can return and reimagine your missteps on Yom Kippur…
MAKE YOUR MARK!
(1) Print out the target page for every member of your family. (Print this out too so you don’t have to open your phone or computer.) Grab a pen or pencil for each person.
(2) The target is divided into three sections by the arrows, so think of up to three things you wish had gone differently. These can be things that affected others or things that only affected you (’cuz we have to ask ourselves for forgiveness too!). Write those things in the blue stripe.
(3) Now think of what you could have done to acheive your goal. How could you have approached that situation differently? Could you have asked for help? Could you have been more prepared? Use the green, yellow, and pink spaces to brainstorm small steps towards getting it right.
(4) In the red center, write the ideal outcome.
Let’s be real…we are never going to hit bullseyes EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Yom Kippur is our chance to reset, to draw back our bow with fresh intention, and to let our arrows soar as many times as it takes to get it right.
