ABOUT HIGH HOLY DAY SERVICES & PROGRAMS

Kever Avot v'Imahot: Visiting Graves of Loved Ones
On Sunday, October 6th, everyone is invited to join Beth El's Chevra Kadisha for our annual High Holy Day cemetery visit, Kever Avot v’Imahot. This is an informal opportunity to visit the graves of our own loved ones as well as those who lived among us, many of whom were the early builders of our Beth El community. We will also recall our loved ones who rest elsewhere and whose memories we carry with us.

This year we are going to visit both cemeteries that Beth El is affiliated with:

From 2:00-2:45 pm, please join us at Gan Shalom Cemetery at 1000 Bear Creek Road, 94553, near Briones Regional Park. This is the newer cemetery where Beth El and Beth Hillel have reserved additional plots for our members. We will meet outside the little office building just off the parking lot.

From 3:15-4:00 pm, please join us at Rolling Hills Memorial Park at 4100 Hilltop Drive in Richmond, in the Tel Shalom section. This is the cemetery where Beth El joined with Beth Hillel in Richmond many years ago to reserve a special section for our members.

Yom Kippur Yizkor & Yizkor Circle
Every year at our Yom Kippur Yizkor service, we remember all of our loved ones who have died. This year, as Yom Kippur falls just days after the first anniversary of the devastating October 7th attacks in Southern Israel, and at the end of a year of unthinkable numbers of innocent lives lost across Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, we will devote the first part of our Yom Kippur Yizkor service to communal remembrance. All those who would prefer to join at the conclusion of this part of our service are warmly invited to enter the Sanctuary or log into Zoom beginning around 5:50pm. Likewise, those who wish to attend only for this early communal remembrance may leave the Sanctuary or log off Zoom at its conclusion. 

As we do every year, during the registration process for the High Holy Days at Beth El, everyone is invited to submit a picture of our personal loved ones who have died, to be included in our High Holy Day Gallery of Remembrance.

Just prior to our Yizkor service, at 4:00 pm on Yom Kippur afternoon, all are invited to a facilitated conversation to share our personal stories of loss, love, memory and grief at the Yizkor Circle during the second block of Yom Kippur afternoon programs. 

Yizkor, Judaism’s communal service of remembrance and mourning, is observed four times each year: on Yom Kippur afternoon and at the conclusion of the three biblical pilgrimage festivals: Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot.

Z’man Simchateinu: Celebrating Sukkot Together
The Festival of Sukkot is known as z’man simchateinu - the season of our joy! We’ll gather together in our beautiful Beth El sukkah, built right into our Founders Grove, to celebrate the beginning of the weeklong festival with an evening service on Wenesday, October 16, and a morning service on Thursday, October 17. 

The Shabbat that falls during Sukkot doubles our joy, and this year we’ll celebrate with a special blessing for the newest members of our Beth El community. The service will also be accessible on Zoom. We’ll conclude with a delicious dinner for all, enjoyed together in community under our beautiful oak trees, with the opportunity to bring our plates to enjoy the meal in the sukkah.

On Sunday October 20th, Beth El members will be opening their own sukkot at their homes to visitors from our community for two-hour blocks between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm. Spend a few hours visiting different sukkot or pop into just one.

Planning to build a sukkah? Sign up to host for the whole day or for a shorter period if that’s best for your household. We’ll be organizing two-hour blocks so even if you host you’ll have time to visit others.

Sukkah curious? We’re happy to help you make a plan for making a sukkah! Making a sukkah can be as easy (or as complicated) as you want. Emily Marthinsen, Yonatan Frisch and others on the Ritual Committee are here to provide support and lend a hand.

And, if you’d also like to host at another time during the holiday, just us know that, too. Add your information to this sign up sheet or contact Emily Marthinsen with questions. 

Our Sukkot Yizkor service will be held at 6:15pm in our Beth El sukkah and on Zoom on Wednesday evening 10/23. This year, our Sukkot Yizkor service will be preceded by a Nechama Yizkor Circle beginning at 5:15pm in our Nechama Garden - an opportunity for parents who have experienced the death of a child to share our personal stories of loss, love, memory and grief. Project Nechama is Beth El's response to pregnancy and neonatal loss. Each year, we hold a Nechama Yizkor service in memory of our community's children of all ages and stages of development who have died. We recognize those stillborn, those lost as miscarriages, as infants, as children and as adults. This year, our Sukkot Yizkor service will include a portion dedicated to Nechama Yizkor. Yizkor, Judaism’s communal service of remembrance and mourning, is observed four times each year: on Yom Kippur afternoon and at the conclusion of the three biblical pilgrimage festivals: Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot.

Simchat Torah: A Celebration for Everyone!
Our High Holy Day season goes out with a bang, as we celebrate reading the last few verses of the Torah in Deuteronomy and start right back up again with the first few verses of Genesis. Join us for a Simchat Torah Party for all ages full of ruach [spirit], Torah inspired activities, Torah reading, and high energy singing and dancing with support from our 4th Friday musicians! We’ll also honor our newest YAFE [Youth and Family Education] learners with a special blessing. The celebration concludes with the unscrolling of the whole Torah around our Sanctuary! This joyful end of our High Holy Day season is especially accessible for younger children, teens and their families and will conclude with a dedicated learning session for adults and teens.

This year, Simchat Torah also marks the first anniversary, on the Hebrew calendar, of the brutal Hamas attacks in Southern Israel. Before we begin this year’s Simchat Torah celebration, we will gather briefly at 5:00pm in the Sanctuary in order to recite Kaddish.