Call Me Back with Dan Senor

Episode: Days of Awe – with Rachel Goldberg-Polin
Date: September 15, 2025
Host: Dan Senor
Guest: Rachel Goldberg-Polin
Theme: Navigating Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur in Crisis – Lessons, Reflection, and the Jewish People Today

Episode Overview

In this emotionally rich and deeply educational episode, Dan Senor welcomes Rachel Goldberg-Polin to discuss the spiritual, communal, and personal dimensions of the Jewish High Holidays—Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—amidst ongoing Israeli crises and global Jewish challenges. The conversation interweaves scriptural sources, personal experiences, and communal struggles, particularly the plight of hostages and the atmosphere in Israel, to frame these "Days of Awe" as both ancient rituals and living, urgent practices.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Crisis and Hope (00:00–01:45; 43:20–49:23)

• Rachel opens with the story of Sarit Zusman, whose son Ben was killed fighting to free Israeli hostages:

  “Our story will have a good ending… There is such power in that.” (00:40)

• She connects this stance to Jacob wrestling with the angel—insisting on a blessing despite not knowing the outcome, paralleling Israeli endurance.
• Rachel draws on the Hebrew word for crisis (mashber) meaning both crisis and birthing pains, evoking hope that beyond suffering and breaking lies rebirth and light.

2. Current Events Backdrop (01:45–07:07)

• Dan provides a thorough news update: population movements and military developments in Gaza, debates over hostage negotiations, U.S.-Israel relations, and reactions in the UN.
• Sets the emotional intensity ahead of the High Holidays, noting the widespread, fraught longing for the return of hostages and peace.

3. Framing the High Holiday Learning (07:07–08:16)

• Rachel dedicates the conversation to the merit of returning the “48 cherished hostages,” inviting listeners to learn with that intention.

4. Why Do Even Secular Jews Observe Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur? (08:16–10:52)

• Rachel humorously compares once-a-year synagogue attendance to someone never exercising running a marathon—arduous, exhausting, and possibly off-putting.
• Challenges the misconception that Rosh Hashanah is the “Jewish New Year.” Instead, she traces its roots to Leviticus, where it’s first described as a day of rest and shofar-blowing—not the start of the year.

5. What Is Rosh Hashanah Actually? (10:52–14:07)

• Rachel draws on Torah and Talmud, explaining that the Jewish year truly starts at Passover (Exodus), but Tishrei (the seventh month, not the first) is Rosh Hashanah.
• She explains, per the Talmud, that Rosh Hashanah marks Adam and Eve’s creation—the “birthday of humanity,” making it a universal holiday:

  “This is a very universal holiday, because Adam and Eve we know were the first people, but they were not the first Jews…” (12:07)

• The day is also Yom HaDin—Day of Judgment—not just celebration, but annual self-assessment for all humanity.

6. The Self-Assessment Analogy (14:07–16:20)

• Rachel compares the High Holidays to an “annual review” at work—preparation means authentic reflection, considering successes, regrets, and future goals.
• She stresses the precious fragility of life and our responsibilities as moral beings.

7. Rituals and Their Meanings: The Shofar & Tzedakah (16:20–22:13)

• The three prescribed shofar blasts (Tekiya, Shevarim, Teruah) each elicit different internal responses: coronation, soul-sobbing, and an “alarm clock for the soul.”

  “That is an alarm clock for the soul...” (18:54)

• The liturgy features the Book of Life metaphor, reinforcing the urgency of sincere change.
• Rachel clarifies tzedakah isn’t charity but an obligation to justice.

8. Repentance (Teshuva) – Real Process, Not Performance (21:42–24:12)

• Dan and Rachel emphasize that true teshuva is more than a formulaic apology or ritual.
• Misconception: asking for forgiveness is enough—Rachel insists teshuva is an active process: regret, stopping the behavior, apologizing specifically, and resolving to avoid repeat.

  “If you don’t feel bad about what you did, you can’t start this process…” (24:50)

9. Blurring Boundaries: Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur (22:13–26:55)

• The two holidays are deeply connected through themes of reflection, repentance, and change.
  • Real atonement requires process, not just a once-a-year reset.

10. Power of Words and Daily Practice (30:08–33:33)

• Words (devarim) matter—they’re not just sounds but “things” with power to destroy or redeem.

  “Words are redemptive.” (30:26, citing Rabbi Dr. Tal Cecil)

• Rachel urges listeners to adopt a daily habit of assessment—not waiting for the High Holidays:

  “You shouldn’t be so obsessed with what you’re doing between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. You should be obsessed with what you’re doing between Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.” (33:16)

11. Living Each Day As If It Were the Last (33:33–36:08)

• Citing the Mishnah (Rabbi Eliezer): “Repent one day before your death… [since] you don’t know the day, do it every day.” (33:33)
• Rachel shares personal story of always saying proper goodbyes, noting the comfort from her last moment with her son Hirsch before his abduction.

12. Origins and Teachings of Yom Kippur (36:08–42:01)

• Rachel walks through the biblical origin: after the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses climbs Sinai a second time—spending 40 days, culminating on the 10th of Tishrei. God grants forgiveness after sincere teshuva from the people, establishing the precedent for Yom Kippur as a day to wipe the slate clean.

  “This holiday of Yom Kippur is actually something that we merited through the true teshuva of our ancestors.” (40:01)

• She emphasizes the authentic internal test:

  “Only you can answer that. There’s no rabbi, there’s no minister, … who can tell you if you authentically, genuinely, truly did Teshuva, except you.” (41:37)

13. Synagogue, Community, and Wrestling With Ourselves (43:20–49:23)

• Dan frames rabbinic sermons at the High Holidays as the community’s State of the Union. Rachel reflects that attendance and communal gathering are valuable for solidarity, even if ritual is confusing or overwhelming.

• The struggle is likened to Jacob’s wrestling with the angel; crisis can wound us—leaving us changed, but offering the chance for blessing.

  “We are at a moment…that we are in a crisis moment. But what do we do with this crisis?... The biblical word mashber…means birthing pains… sometimes that’s the labor pain and just ahead is the rebirth and the light.” (46:44)

• She recounts the story at the Kotel following the Six-Day War—“Even if we don’t all understand what is going on… we can all be together in the moment.” (47:35)

• Rachel closes with a blessing for the year:

  “That we are all inscribed in the book of hope, the book of life, the book of miracles…” (49:20)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Crisis & Hope:

  “When you are in that moment of crisis where you feel that you cannot take it, that you’re being broken, sometimes that’s the labor pain. And just ahead is the rebirth and the light. And we must go toward that light. We have no other option.” — Rachel (00:40, 46:44)

• On Rosh Hashanah’s True Meaning:

  “This date, the first of Tishrei… is the birth date of humanity. Which means this is a very universal holiday…” — Rachel (12:07)

• On Repentance as Ongoing Practice:

  “Don’t just say it… Do it, show it.” — Rachel (23:02);
  “We should be having a mini Rosh Hashanah… every day.” (32:47)

• On Words as Healing:

  “Words are redemptive.” — Rachel citing Rabbi Dr. Tal Cecil (30:26)

• On Individual Responsibility:

  “Only you can answer that. There’s no rabbi, there’s no minister, there’s no one who can tell you if you authentically, genuinely, truly did Teshuva, except you.” — Rachel (41:37)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Topic/Segment | Time | |------------------------------------------------------|----------| | Opening, story of Sarit Zusman & Jacob’s struggle | 00:00–01:45 | | News roundup & setting the High Holidays context | 01:45–07:07 | | Dedicating learning to hostages | 07:51–08:16 | | Why Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur stand out | 08:56–10:52 | | What Rosh Hashanah really commemorates | 10:52–14:07 | | Annual review/self-assessment analogy | 14:07–16:20 | | Shofar, tzedakah, and meaning of ritual | 16:20–22:13 | | Teshuva as true repentance and ongoing process | 21:42–26:55 | | Power of words & daily introspection | 30:08–33:33 | | Story: Saying goodbye and living with urgency | 33:33–36:08 | | Sinai, Yom Kippur origins, authenticity test | 36:08–42:01 | | Community, Jacob’s crisis, birthing pains metaphor | 43:20–46:44 | | Concluding blessings and hope | 47:32–49:23 |

Conclusion

This episode offers a sweeping, heartfelt, and practical guide to approaching Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—not only as ritual dates but as a living opportunity for assessment, growth, and healing—individual, communal, and national. Through Torah, personal anecdote, and current events, Rachel Goldberg-Polin urges listeners to embrace honesty, humility, community, and hope in facing the year ahead, especially in these difficult times.

Endnote: The episode is best summarized in Rachel’s closing words:

“We must go toward that light. We have no other option.” (46:44)