As the beautiful aspen leaves surrounding the Yampa Valley begin to change, our local Jewish community also marks an important change.

The Jewish High Holy Days begin with Rosh Hashana, which extends Sept. 22-24, and goes through Yom Kippur — celebrated Oct. 1-2 — followed by Sukkot and Simchat Torah.

These holidays mark the Jewish New Year (5786) as well as a time for community and individual reflection, renewal and recalibration. The main spiritual Jewish concept that we explore during these Yamim Nuraim (Wonderous Days) is Teshuvah, which is typically translated as ‘repentance’ but literally means ‘return’.

We use these Holy days to embark on a journey of returning; returning to ourselves, returning to our own concepts of the Divine, returning to the collective responsibility we have to the communities and societies of which we are a part, and returning to what matters most in life.

This year, many of us are feeling a lot of heaviness and uncertainty.

Whether this is because of a challenge in our own personal lives and/or the issues of the world around us, it is easy to find ourselves lost in some version of despair. For this reason, we at Har Mishpacha have decided to focus on “Returning to Jewish Joy” as our theme for this year’s High Holy Days.

Now, mind you, Jewish Joy is not fickle or trivial. It is complex. Jewish Joy holds the pain and despair in a tender embrace. The essence of Jewish Joy is explained in Psalm 30:12, which reads, “You have turned my mourning into dancing …”

We invite anyone to join us at our services and programs this High Holy Day season as we return to Joy and bless the challenging times we are living in. Shana Tova u’metukah (Happy & Sweet New Year!)

To view a full list of events in Steamboat Springs for the High Holy Day season, go to HarMishpacha.org/highholidays.