PLAN YOUR SCHEDULE
Together, even when apart.
We are bringing the soul of our beloved CRS High Holy Day services to your home. The melodies, the teachings, and the community connections will join with an array of new traditions to deepen and expand our sacred moments together.
In addition to our worship services, we will have many opportunities to learn and connect with our clergy and community both virtually and in person.
Our High Holy Days Member Portal is where you will access all virtual programming. The portal password, your E-Ticket for this year’s High Holy Days, has been sent to all members in good standing. If you did not receive it, please email techteam@crsnyc.org.
High Holy Day Schedule
Friday, September 18
7:30 PM | Congregational Service
Saturday, September 19
8:30 AM | The Depths of Silence and Sound: Hannah, the Shofar, and the Call of Rosh Hashanah | Rabbi David Ellenson
8:30 to 9:15 AM
with Rabbi David Ellenson
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
This shiur (lesson) will look at the haftarah of Rosh Hashanah, the story of Hannah and the birth of her son Samuel. We will consider why this selection was chosen by rabbinic tradition for recitation on the New Year, explore how the story was interpreted by our ancient rabbinic Sages in the Talmud, and then consider how Jewish tradition draws parallels between the sounding of the shofar and the meanings attached to the story of Hannah. The importance of kavanah (intention) and rachmanut (sincerity) as major themes of the holiday will be highlighted in this session.
9:00 AM | Sholom Sprouts Service | Ages 0 to 5
9:00 to 9:45 AM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Short and sweet, just like the intended participants, this service is designed for children ages 0-5 and their grown-ups.
9:00 AM | Family Service | Grades 2 to 6
9:30 AM | Schmooze Space: Community Connections
9:30 to 10:15 AM (before Congregational Service)
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Stop by for a quick schmooze in our virtual community room to be hosted by your fellow congregants. Your clergy will also visit the Schmooze Space to bring their new years’ greetings.
10:00 AM | Children’s Experience | Grades 2 to 6
10:00 to 11:30 AM
Zoom – Register Here
On Rosh Hashanah, Jessica Cohen and Rabbinic Intern Vanessa Harper will lead a lively High Holy Day celebration for youth in grades 2 to 6 with fun and engaging activities.
10:15 AM | Congregational Service
12:00 PM | Schmooze Space: Community Connections
12:00 to 1:30 PM (after Congregational Service)
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Stop by for a quick schmooze in our virtual community room to be hosted by your fellow congregants. Your clergy will also visit the Schmooze Space to bring their new years’ greetings.
1:00 PM | Teen Experience: From ROUGH Hashanah 2020 to Rosh Hashanah 578FUN! | Grades 7 to 12
1:00 to 2:00 PM
Zoom – Register Here
2020 sure has felt like a real dumpster fire of a year, hasn’t it? Fortunately as Jews, we get to cut out early and start over with 5781! Let’s talk all things New Year, and finding the good amidst the chaos–one of Judaism’s oldest traditions.
1:30 PM | Judaism and the Resiliency Project | Rabbi Weitzman
1:30 to 2:00 PM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Join Rabbi Weitzman in a conversation based on his Rosh Hashanah sermon “Just Keep Moving: Judaism and the Resiliency of our People.” Looking at the textual tradition and historical realities of our people, we will explore how Judaism’s greatest strength has always been its flexibility and focus on a better future.
3:00 PM | Sholom Sprouts Rosh Hashanah Birthday Party for the World! | Ages 0 to 7
3:00 to 3:30 PM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Have you ever been to a Birthday Party for the World? Grab a party hat – you’re invited to sing, dance and celebrate with Rodeph Sholom School teachers Wendy Abels and Ryan Allais.
3:00 PM | Tashlich (In-person*)
3:00 to 5:00 PM
Central Park – All available spaces have been filled. If you have any questions, please email info@crsnyc.org.
Tashlich comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to cast,” referring to the intent to cast away our sins via this meaningful and ancient Jewish custom. We will meet in small, physically distanced groups in Central Park. A limited number of spaces are available.
CRS Religious School families are invited to join together in small, physically distanced groups on Thursday, September 24 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm for Tashlich and a Family Scavenger Hunt. A limited number of spaces are available.
If you are unable to join us for our physically distanced Tashlich this year, here are some suggestions to
practice the ritual on your own or with family.
7:05 PM | Havdalah at Home
Sunday, September 20
9:00 AM | Congregational Service
10:30 AM | Schmooze Space: Community Connections
10:30 to 11:30 AM (after Congregational Service)
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Stop by for a quick schmooze in our virtual community room to be hosted by your fellow congregants. Your clergy will also visit the Schmooze Space to bring their new years’ greetings.
10:45 AM | Hiding from What Hurts: An Examination of Genesis 21 | Rabbi Karol
10:45 to 11:30 AM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Rabbi Karol will lead a study session on the topic of her Rosh Hashanah sermon “The Privilege of Looking Away.” Using Genesis 21 and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” we will explore human responses to suffering and consider how bearing witness can propel the cause of racial justice.
11:00 AM | Shireinu Worship Celebration for Families with Special Needs
11:00 AM
Register Here for the Shireinu Service
Come join the Rodeph Sholom family for a
warm, inviting, musical and interactive worship
experience! This service is designed to be
accessible and sensitive to a variety of needs.
The service will be ASL interpreted. The clergy and extended Rodeph Sholom family look forward to sharing prayer, Torah, music, and sweetness as we welcome in the new year together. This service is open to the entire
community (members and non-members) and
all ages are welcome.
Learn more about our Shireinu programs here.
1:00 PM | Rosh Hashanah Seder
1:00 to 2:00 PM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Led by Rabbi Spratt and Cantor De Lowe
If we are what we eat, then there is no better way to make ourselves and our year anew than some tasty treats! We all know about apples and honey, but did you know that it’s an ancient custom in Sephardi Jewish communities to use a seder meal as the center of celebration for the New Year? Join Rabbi Ben Spratt and Cantor Shayna De Lowe for a joyous, musical, reflective new way to capture the themes of Rosh Hashanah.
Click here to order a special Rosh Hashanah Seder package from Certe, so you have all the items you will need to join us on this culinary adventure! Place your order by September 16 and be sure to mention Rodeph Sholom.
3:00 PM | Tashlich (In-person)*
3:00 to 5:00 PM
Central Park – All available spaces have been filled. If you have any questions, please email info@crsnyc.org.
Tashlich comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to cast,” referring to the intent to cast away our sins via this meaningful and ancient Jewish custom. We will meet in small, physically distanced groups in Central Park. A limited number of spaces are available.
CRS Religious School families are invited to join together in small, physically distanced groups on Thursday, September 24 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm for Tashlich and a Family Scavenger Hunt. A limited number of spaces are available.
If you are unable to join us for our physically distanced Tashlich this year, here are some suggestions to practice the ritual on your own or with family.
*In-person experiences requiring advance registration
Sunday, September 27
7:30 PM | Kol Nidre Congregational Service
Monday, September 28
8:30 AM | Who Will Live and Who Shall Die?: The Un’taneh Tokef Prayer — A Medieval Prayer, Its Modern Resonances | Rabbi David Ellenson
8:30 to 9:30 AM
with Rabbi David Ellenson
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
This shiur (lesson) will focus on the “Un’taneh Tokef,” surely one of the major prayers of the High Holy Day season. We will read the text, reflect on its historical origins, explore some of its meanings, and consider its messages for us today during a time of pandemic.
9:00 AM | Sholom Sprouts Service | Ages 0 to 5
9:00 to 9:45 AM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Short and sweet, just like the intended participants, this service is designed for children ages 0-5 and their grown-ups.
9:00 AM | Family Service | Grades 2 to 6
9:30 AM | Schmooze Space: Community Connections
9:30 to 10:15 AM (before Congregational Service)
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Stop by for a quick schmooze in our virtual community room to be hosted by your fellow congregants. Your clergy will also visit the Schmooze Space to bring their new years’ greetings.
10:00 AM | Children’s Experience | Grades 2 to 6
10:00 to 11:30 AM
Zoom – Register Here
On Yom Kippur, Jessica Cohen and Rabbinic Intern Vanessa Harper will lead a meaningful experience for youth in grades 2 to 6 with age-appropriate activities related to the themes of the day.
10:15 AM | Congregational Service
12:15 PM | Who is in Charge Here? Torah and Machzor’s Battle Over How Important We Really Are | Rabbi Levine
12:15 to 1:00 PM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
You will not be surprised to know that in our long, venerable tradition, sources present different points of view on the most pressing questions of life.
One dominant concern is your and my status on the world stage. Are we indispensable to the well-being of the Jewish people and all humanity as Torah often suggests, or are we barely discernable specks in the panoply of history as the Machzor sometimes counters.
This is a battle you won’t want to miss. May the best text win!
1:00 PM | Teen Experience: Yom Kippur: Canceled? A Teen Conversation | Grades 7 to 12
1:00 to 2:00 PM
Zoom – Register Here
Join the conversation with CRS teens about how Yom Kippur relates to Cancel Culture. Did you know there’s a Jewish view on this controversy? We’ll discuss JK Rowling, Nick Cannon, and numerous other recently “canceled” celebrities, how cancel culture connects to a multitude of other major current events, and this holy day of repentance, redemption and renewal.
1:30 PM | Schmooze Space: Community Connections
1:00 to 2:30 PM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Stop by for a quick schmooze in our virtual community room to be hosted by your fellow congregants. Your clergy will also visit the Schmooze Space to bring their new years’ greetings.
2:30 PM | Stillness in the Storm: A Meditation on Being | Rabbi Spratt & Cantor De Lowe
2:30 to 3:30 PM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
When pandemic forces distance, and storms of uncertainty upend the foundations of safety and security, our Holy Days urge us to face our own places of turmoil. Through words, through story, through song we will name today’s tempests and seek to find our own place of being in this time and place.
3:00 PM | Sholom Sprouts Yom Kippur Puppet Show: More than “I’m Sorry” | Ages 3 to 7
3:00 to 3:30 PM
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Join Rodeph Sholom School teacher Todd Loyd for this very special puppet show as we explore the theme of forgiveness, apologizing and helping our kids understand going beyond, “I’m sorry.” Enjoy storytime, singing and more!
4:00 PM | Yizkor
5:30 PM | Neilah
6:45 PM | Havdalah
7:10 PM | Break Fast | Hosted by the CRS Board of Trustees
7:10 PM (after Havdalah)
Zoom – Link will be in the Member Portal
Come together for a brief community gathering hosted by CRS President Peter Ehrenberg and members of our Board of Trustees. Our Rabbinic Intern Vanessa Harper and Cantorial Intern Olivia Brodsky will lead a ritual moment to break the fast together.
30 with More Clergy (and the Rabbi’s Husband): September 21 to 25
In the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we invite you to participate in a special week of learning and connection with special programming led by clergy and CRS congregants. Each session will be 30 minutes long in this next installment of our popular “30 with the Clergy” series.
MON, SEP 21 at 12:00 PM | “The Magic and Mystery of the Days of Awe” | Rabbi Nadia Gold
Explore the historical, magical and superstitious roots of several ritual and textual aspects of the High Holy Days.
TUE, SEP 22 at 9:30 AM | Shofar Blowing Class | Rabbi Ben Spratt
While every Jew is commanded to hear the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, thankfully we’re not all required to learn how to blow one. But for those wanting to give their lungs the ultimate workout, Rabbi Spratt will be leading a Shofar Blowing class!
If you do not already have your own Shofar, here is the link to where you can buy one on Amazon. Or you can purchase one from your favorite Judaica shop.
TUE, SEP 22 at 12:00 PM | Gesher Tsar Me’od: Facing Fear and Moving Forward | Rabbi Erica Gerson
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught: “The whole entire world is a very narrow bridge and the main thing is not to be afraid.”
We will explore this and two other texts that together will teach us how to face our fears and keep moving forward.
WED, SEP 23 at 12:00 PM | HiHo, HiHo, It’s Back to Shul We Go | Cantor Rebecca Garfein in conversation with Cantor Dan Singer
A conversation between Cantors Garfein and Singer about High Holy Day preparation in the new reality of COVID-19 on the Upper West Side.
THU, SEP 24 at 12:00 PM | New Year, Thriving Soul | Cantor Nancy Bach
Join Cantor Nancy Bach as she leads us through an interactive discussion on what taking personal responsibility can mean, as we face the Days of Awe, looking through the lens of Mussar (a contemplative Jewish practice) which can help us both heal ourselves and refine our actions with others, such that we move into the new year with souls that are ever-more thriving.
THU, SEP 24 at 6:00 PM | Why We Read Jonah on Yom Kippur: The Jewish Story of Justice, Mercy and Repentance | Mark Gerson, The Rabbi’s Husband
Mark Gerson, the host of “The Rabbi’s Husband” podcast and the author of the forthcoming book on the Haggadah from St. Martin’s Essentials, The Telling: How Judaism’s Essential Book Will Change Your Life, will lead us in a discussion about the Book of Jonah. This book, the length of a newspaper column, is a story that has long captivated children and adults — while yielding eternal lessons about truth, mercy, justice and repentance.
FRI, SEP 25 at 10:00 AM | Love, Loss and Legacy: Thinking About Mortality and Memory | Rabbi Juli Karol with Mary Harkavy and Stephanie Lasher
There is no better way to spend the Ten Days of Awe than reflecting on important values and learning how we can make our coming year the best one yet. Rabbi Karol will host this session facilitated by Mary Harkavy and Stephanie Lasher from our What Matters initiative. Join us for a meaningful discussion and teaching on what matters through the themes of love, loss and legacy.
FRI, SEP 25 at 12:00 PM | Exploring Psalm 27: The LORD is my light and my help | Rabbi Jacqueline Koch Ellenson
The words of Psalm 27, read during the High Holy Day season, carry so much significance and power. How can we create personal meaning from these words as we go into these Holy Days? What do we pray and yearn for? Can we find our own paths to “God’s palace” and feel the presence of God’s light in our lives? Join Rabbi Jacqueline Koch Ellenson in this exploration.