The Ten Days of Repentance

A. The Ten Days of Repentance begin on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and conclude at the end of Yom Kippur.

B. During the Ten Days of Repentance, there are various additions and changes in the prayers.

C. One should make a great effort to be especially meticulous in observing mitzvot during the Ten Days of Repentance, including matters in which one may be more lenient during the rest of the year.

D. One must repent for sinful actions and negative character traits, such as anger, arrogance, jealousy, pessimism, laziness, stinginess, stubbornness, and so on, throughout the entire year—and especially during the Ten Days of Repentance, when repentance is accepted immediately.  

E. How does one repent? One stops doing what is forbidden according to Halachah and improves the positive things that are being done in an incomplete way.

F. It is important to repent both for transgressions between a person and Hashem and for transgressions between one person and another.

G. Regarding transgressions between one person and another, one must ask forgiveness from the person who was hurt, in addition to confession and a commitment for the future. Additionally, if one owes money to anyone, now is the time to pay back.

10 Days of Teshuvah: 10 Meaningful Things to Work On After Rosh Hashanah

1. Do Cheshbon Hanefesh — take time to honestly reflect on where you are and what you want to improve. Write your own personal Viduy and read it.

2. Apologize to anyone you may have hurt.

3. Work on your Middot.

4. Make a practical game plan for how you want to be better this year. What is your plan for the coming year?

5. Be in Simcha.

6. Say Selichot. 

7. Take on one mitzvah be’emunah — something you commit to doing no matter what.

8. Learn Torah.

9. Do Teshuvah: azivat hachet (leaving the transgression), regret, viduy (admitting the sin), and kaballah la'atid(commitment for the future).

10. Pray with all your heart.