High Holidays

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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

A Yom Kippur prayer that mourns those lost in the Holocaust

A variety of candle lighting blessings, traditional and modern, for holidays

A possible comfort for one who shouldn’t fast due to health

Some find the Yom Kippur liturgy, with its litany of sins, onerous, particularly for women. This text serves as a counterpoint to the traditional Al Het (confession) affirming our goodness alongside our sins.

A prayer based on traditional texts but which addresses God in feminine and gender-neutral imagery

A prayer based on traditional texts which address God as Shekhinah

Adds biblical women to the list of biblical men in this traditional prayer

An inclusive version of this traditional Selikhot (penitential) prayer

An addition to the Eyleh Ezkerah martyrology section of the Yom Kippur service, this is a short biography of a learned and accomplished medieval Jewish woman who was murdered during the Crusades

The masculine hierarchical God-language so prevalent in High Holiday liturgy can be painful and distancing. This article offers suggestions to restore the empowering potential of the High Holidays for those who have felt diminished, uninterested, and/or angered by traditional High Holiday prayer.

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