Scanning over the 40+ years of my life, I feel proud of some of the deeds I have done. One such deed was helping to start a new kind of school in Israel.

The Yachad ("Together") School in Modiin, which aims to bring secular and religious children together and provide them with a pluralistic Jewish education (not offered in the existing State secular or religious schools), opened its doors in 2000 with 150 students. In 2008, over one thousand students in preschool through 10th grade attend the school.

But most importantly, the school's great success helped fuel a movement to create a whole new stream of schools in Israel. The Knesset recently passed a bill erecting a new State combined secular-religious network of schools.

September 1 is a happy day in Israel. After a long, hot summer, which hosts the troublesome combo of vacationing children and working parents, kids go back to school.

As my children excitedly described their first day back to school, they noted "and then he blew the shofar." The shofar, the world's oldest wind instrument and one of Judaism's most ancient rites, was blown for the new month of Elul, a prelude to the upcoming Jewish High Holidays.

The kids heard the primitive, stirring sound of the shofar before going to math class, coming home to watch The Suite Life, and playing basketball with the neighbors. Jewish experiences like hearing the shofar on the first day of school tie our religious and cultural heritage to our secular 21st century lives. These Jewish experiences add depth to our lives and wholeness to our identities.

If one has prepared physically for a race, the race experience is more likely to be positive. And if one has prepared spiritually for the Jewish Days of Judgment and Atonement, the High Holy Days experience is more likely to be positive too. What are the best ways to observe Elul?

Summer is ending, school is starting, and the holidays are just around the corner. The Hebrew month of Elul - a time to get spiritually prepared for the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) - begins at sundown on Saturday night (August 30). Elul is an opportunity for us to better ourselves, improve our relationships with others and move closer to God.