High Holy Days 5781
Join with the Congregation Beth El Community at the High Holy Days this year. Rosh Hashanah begins on Friday evening, September 18, and Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur eve, falls on Sunday evening, September 27.
HIGH HOLY DAY SERVICE LIST AND ZOOM LINKS
REGISTER FOR SERVICES
This moment and this year are different from any we have known before; our observance of the High Holy Days this year will be different, by necessity and by design. For everyone’s health and safety, we will not gather in person in groups at any time during the High Holy Day season. All of our study, observance and communal gatherings will take place at physical remove from one another—and, as is always the case in this season, link us to one another, to history and to our people.
We have asked what is most important about the various aspects of the High Holy Days and then imagined how we can creatively realize them in this time together. We are looking forward to convening with you online in small groups and congregational gatherings, along with having time for individual and familial opportunities to learn, reflect, sing, pray, discuss and create as together we renew and deepen our commitments on the eve of this New Year.
The High Holy Days, from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, bracket ten days given to us to reflect on our lives. Our questions have new resonance and urgency this year against the backdrop of the pandemic: How do we use the time we are given? Are we realizing our most authentic selves? What is our accountability and responsibility to self, others and God? We are called during this season to cheshbon ha-nefesh—a searching examination of our lives—that we may gain renewed strength and commitment for the tasks before us: tikkun midot, improving our characters, and tikkun olam, repairing our world.
Even though we cannot be together in person, your participation is as important this year as ever. We welcome your presence, your voice and your intentions as part of our community at Beth El’s High Holy Days. Please review the list of High Holy Day services and programs.
High Holy Days programming begins with Rosh Chodesh Elul—the new month of Elul, thirty days before Rosh Hashanah—on August 20 and continues through Rosh Hashanah (9/18–20) and Yom Kippur (9/27–28) before concluding with Sukkot (10/2–10) and Simchat Torah (10/10). This year especially, we invite you to prepare for the High Holy Days by joining us during the month of Elul for a series of programs and activities in preparation for the High Holy Days ahead.
This year, we are asking everyone to register ahead to ensure that we provide access for everyone who wishes to join us. Members and the community at large can sign up for the High Holy Days 5781 here.
We look forward to sharing this journey of learning, exploration, renewal and commitment with you.
L’shanah tovah! May you be inscribed for a good New Year!
Further resources for personal exploration and preparation for the High Holy Day season can be found on the High Holy Days pages of ReformJudaism.org, Judaismunbound.com, and MyJewishLearning.com.