We just kicked off the new Jewish year of 5781 on Rosh Hashanah this week, so here are a couple of downloadable free graphics to get you inspired & motivated for the new year!

At the end of this post, you'll find graphics to download for free.

(If you use them online, I'd be grateful for attribution & a link back to this site, but since I'm offering these for free, so you don't have to link or attribute.)

You can also print them out as posters.

Upon waking up in the morning, a Jew is supposed to thank God for returning one's soul to the body.

There is an idea in Judaism that sleep is 1/60th of death.

The human soul comprises different aspects & levels (which is why Judaism has several different names for the soul — to describe its different aspects & levels).

When one goes to sleep at night, part of the soul rises to another plane and tells of its deeds that day. (Yes, part of this process can be expressed in a metaphorical dream.) It is judged and usually given yet another chance for a better tomorrow.

The soul then descends back into the body and then at some point, the person wakes up.

​So for millennia, Jews have said the following short prayer immediately upon waking:
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In Hebrew, the guttural throat-clearing sound is often represented by "ch." There is no native "ch" (like the English "ch" of "cheese") in Hebrew, so whenever you see a Hebrew word written with "ch," please know that it represents the guttural throat-clearing sound.

For the images, there are 3 options:

• this short prayer in English translation
• this short prayer in English transliteration of the original Hebrew
• this short prayer in the original Hebrew

Of course, you can also feel free to download all three graphics.

Hover your mouse-arrow over your chosen image, then press right-click on your mouse, then choose the option that best suits you.

After an unexpectedly long hiatus, I've decided to get back to blogging on this website.

Thank God, I've been blessed with a full family life & ongoing writing projects.

So I never intended to put off posting here for so long. It was one of those things for which I always meant to make the time, but just didn't.

Sometimes, I thought of ideas for a post that didn't seem to fit here. Other times, I just didn't push myself to flesh out the suitable idea simmering in my mind for months.

Still, I'm not yet sure how often a post will appear here. But my intention is to post at least more than I have until now (as opposed to letting over a year go by with no sign of life)!

For those who kept checking in throughout the down-time, you have my appreciation and gratitude.

And for those checking out this blog out for the first time—welcome & thank you!

Right now, I'm working on creating real blog posts (and not just announcements of a new book launch).

In the meantime, please enjoy the motivational poster below, which you can download & use for free, no attribution necessary.

(To download: Hold your mouse over the image, then right-click your mouse. From the menu box that appears, click "Save" or "Save as," then follow your preference to save it to your device.)

​(The background image is courtesy of photographer Mohamed Hassan.)