High Holidays

The High Holidays, which comprise Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, 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

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

A Surprising Favorite Name for God

Rabbi Daria Jacobs-Velde shares a timely teaching for the High Holidays.

God, rosh hashanah

Aerial view of a forest covered in fog and smoke, with wispy clouds creating a misty, atmospheric scene.

Rosh Hashanah ’24

“Together we will recite / the only prayer this New Year; / the prayer home.”

Israel, Oct 7, rosh hashanah, shofar

several yellow and black bees swarm to a hive

As Kol Nidre Approaches

“What else can we do/Expect hold to the promise / That we will be met / Beyond the gates, / In the field, / By love?”

God, kol nidre, mysticism

a golden field, dotted with green plants. Small hills and blue skies lie beyond the field

The Tides of Teshuvah

“Return is always possible.”

Elul, High Holidays, rosh hashanah, teshuvah

a blue ocean wave