As the High Holy Days approach, many Jews take time for personal reflection and meditation, seeking inspiration from the rich resources of our tradition and history.

This month's feature illustrates how JWA resources can be drawn upon to help guide us through the Days of Awe. In this feature, you will find two contemporary sermons, as well as a Yom Kippur sermon given in 1890 by Ray Frank, the first Jewish woman to preach from a synagogue pulpit in the United States. Karla Goldman's Kol Nidre words connect Frank to Sally Priesand, who as the first American woman rabbi was in some sense Frank's successor. All of these pieces remind us, as Rabbi Leonard Gordon's sermon observes, that our knowledge of historical women who dared to make a difference can "inspire us in our own efforts to become our best selves."