High Holidays

The High Holidays, which comprise Rosh HashanahThe Jewish New Year, also considered the Day of Judgment. The period of the High Holidays is a time of introspection and atonement. The holiday is celebrated with the sounding of the shofar, lengthy prayers in synagogue, the eating of apples and honey, and round challah for a sweet and whole year. Tashlikh, casting bread on the water to symbolize the washing away of sins, also takes place on Rosh Hashana. and Yom KippurThe holiest day of the Jewish year and the culmination of a season of self-reflection. Jews fast, abstain from other worldly pleasures, and gather in prayers that last throughout the day. Following Ne’ilah, the final prayers, during which Jews envision the Gates of Repentance closing, the shofar is sounded in one long blast to conclude the holy day. It is customary to begin building one’s sukkah as soon as the day ends., are the holiest dates on the Jewish calendar. A time to take stock of our live, seek forgiveness, and start fresh, this season invites us to reflect on what matters most to us and to return to our deepest selves.

Latest Rituals

When the New Year Turns to Questions

“This is the year the answers can’t be simple, won’t come / quickly.”

community, Israel, rosh hashanah

a sculpture of people praying at the Kotel

Prayer for 5785: Hope is The Antidote to Despair

starry sky over desert and mountains

Prayer for the New Year, 5785: We Sit On the Chair Together

“In this new year, let us bring our potential to bear.”

rosh hashanah, tikkun olam

a wooden chair

Unetaneh Tokef: An Adaptation for One Year Later

This version of the ‘Unetaneh Tokef’ prayer refers to the atrocities that took place on Oct. 7.

God, hostages, Israel, Oct 7, peace, war

a dusty road

Apple Peel Tachlikh

An alternative kind of Tachlikh, focusing on composting and transformation.

apples, compost, rosh hashanah, Tachlikh

a knife slicing apple peel

El Maleh Rachamim for Yamim Noraim 5785

“Hide them / beneath the cover of Your wings, forever, / And let their souls be bound up with ours…”

God, Israel, Palestine, peace

a flock of birds flying across a blue sky

A Prayer in this Time of Crisis

Rabbi Maurice Harris, Associate Director for Thriving Communities and Israel Affairs Specialist, shares a powerful message for this moment.

High Holidays, Israel, peace, rosh hashanah, war

a brown shofar set on an open prayerbook

Singing For Our lives

“Especially on Yom Kippur — we are singing for our lives in community.”

community, High Holidays, Israel, singing, yom kippur

an open book with words and musical notes

Prayer for these Holy Days

“May we enrich our lives, our relationships, and our days for higher good, for Tikkun Olam, and healing…”

God, High Holidays, return

red apples and green leaves hanging on a tree

For Rosh Hashanah

“So now You’re headed out-of-town, like some will-o’-the-wisp / to locate some new folks, perhaps, and begin In the beginning, all over again…”

God, High Holidays, prayer

Hebrew prayerbook pages in an open book