We welcome you to join us for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Join us with your broken heart, your questions, your joys, and your dreams for the year ahead.
May each and every one of us, Jewish and Palestinian and everyone who dwells on this sacred earth, be inscribed in the Book of Life. May 5787 be a year of healing and liberation for all.
This year we have one registration form for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. If you are able, we encourage you to fill out the form once. If you need to register for Yom Kippur later, that is also ok.
- Registration for Rosh Hashanah is closed
- Registration for Yom Kippur is closed
Below you’ll find the full schedule, volunteer opportunities, potluck information, childcare information, and access details.
Listen here to a playlist with many of the songs and prayers we’ll be singing during Selichot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur.
Volunteering
CJC is a collectively created community. All of our Core Teams have spent several months dreaming up meaningful and accessible gatherings for this most sacred season of the year. Now we need your help! This is a total team effort, and in order for the High Holidays to function smoothly, we need everyone to pitch in within their capacity. Many hands make light work!
We are looking for volunteers to help with set up, clean up, the Welcome Table, childcare, and monitoring the potluck and break-fast tables. We have intentionally made the shifts as short as possible, so please sign up for more than one if you’re able. Please prioritize spots labeled “priority” or where no one has signed up yet. You can sign up to volunteer at the link below. Thank you!
If you are signing up for a childcare shift, please also read and sign the Childcare Co-op Brit (Agreement) here (even if you’ve signed it before).
We are creating this community together and are incredibly grateful for all the ways our members contribute their time and energy. It is a holy act to create and sustain community.
Potluck Information
We will have a vegetarian potluck dinner on erev Rosh Hashanah, and a vegetarian potluck lunch on Rosh Hashanah Day 1. We encourage you to bring a dish to share with the community. If you are unable to contribute food, you are still welcome!
Some people in our community are Gluten Free, Dairy Free, or allergic to nuts, apples, parmesan, or purple nightshades – please keep these dietary needs in mind as you decide what to bring for our potluck, so that everyone has at least one thing they can eat. Please list ingredients so that people know what they are able to eat.
Childcare Co-op
We hope to provide childcare on Rosh Hashanah Day 1, Kol Nidrei, and Yom Kippur Day via our Childcare Co-op, made up of CJC volunteers. Exact availability of the Childcare Co-op will depend on volunteer capacity. Please let us know when you register if you plan to utilize the Childcare Co-op. In order to utilize the Childcare Co-op, we expect you to sign the Brit (Agreement) below (even if you’ve previously signed it), and to sign up for a shift if you’re able.
Feel free to bring activities and food you know your kid will enjoy. We will also provide snacks, toys, art supplies, and thematic activities for the kids to explore if they choose.
Erev Rosh Hashanah Potluck Dinner
Friday, September 11th | 6:00pm “Doors Open” | 6:15pm Blessings & Potluck Dinner | Euclid Beach Shelter, Cleveland (map) | All ages welcome! | Register by Monday, September 7th
Join us to welcome in Rosh Hashanah! We will begin by lighting candles, blessing grape juice and challah, and eating apples with honey. We will provide these ritual foods, and we invite you to bring a vegetarian dish to share with the group (see potluck details in section above).
The lake is nearby if you’d like to do tashlich. (Our communal tashlich will be on Day 2.)
Access, Weather, & Transit Info:
- You can read our Health Equity Brit here, which everyone is asked to agree to when they register.
- Dinner will be in a pavilion with ADA picnic tables. We will have a few folding chairs for those who need a chair with a back. We invite you to bring anything that will make sitting more comfortable and accessible for you.
- There is onsite parking with paved sidewalks from the parking lot to the pavilion.
- There are flush bathrooms nearby.
- In the case of rain, we will still meet, protected by the pavilion roof. In the case of severe weather, we will let you know if we decide to cancel.
- We will provide warm drinks and hand warmers if it’s chilly. Please dress for the weather.
- Euclid Beach Shelter can be accessed via bus #10. We also strive to arrange rides for those who need – let us know if you need one in the registration form.
Rosh Hashanah Day 1
Saturday, September 12th | 10:00am-4:00pm – come to part or all | Acacia Reservation, Lyndhurst (map) | Adult Oriented with childcare provided (see details above) | Register by Monday, September 7th
Throughout the day, feel free to enjoy the park. There is water nearby if you’d like to do tashlich. (Our communal tashlich will be on Day 2.)
***10:00am Doors Open***
***10:15am-1:00pm Shachrit: Morning Prayer***
Join us for Rosh Hashanah morning prayers, which will include singing, poetry, and Torah reading. (Note: because it is shabbes, the practice is not to blow shofar. We will instead blow shofar at our intergenerational Day 2 event.)
***1:00-2:30pm Potluck Lunch***
Please bring a vegetarian dish to share if you are able (see potluck details in section above).
***2:30-4:00pm Learning: Disability Show & Tell***
Join the Access Team to learn about disability justice from a Jewish perspective, and to hear from a few community members about their own experiences with disability. This will be a chance to think about disability and accessibility in our own lives and at CJC, and to dream big!
We may also have time for some additional sharing. If you think you might like to share something about your own experience with disability, please consider these prompts, and share whatever you feel moved to share:
- How does your disability change the way you move through life?
- How does it change your perspective, and what do you bring to things because of your disability?
- Do you have anything literal to show and tell?
- AND/OR: What is your weirdest and least conventional support?
Access, Weather, & Transit Info:
- Weather permitting, we will pray and learn outside, on a grassy field near Acacia Shelter. In the case of rain, we will move into the shelter. Lunch will be in Acacia Shelter, with the option to eat outside as well.
- The shelter is enclosed with both heating and air conditioning and four large garage doors to increase air flow. We will also use a medical grade HEPA filter.
- You can read our Health Equity Brit here, which everyone is asked to agree to when they register.
- There are flush, wheelchair accessible restrooms both inside and next to the shelter.
- Outside, we will use a mixture of camping and folding chairs. Inside, seating will primarily be at picnic tables. We will place folding chairs on the ends of tables for those who need a chair with a back. There is also space for wheelchairs at the ends of tables. We invite you to bring anything that will make sitting more comfortable and accessible for you, including your own chair, or bleacher seat cushions with backrests to use at the picnic tables.
- We will provide warm drinks and hand warmers if it’s chilly. Please dress for the weather.
- There is onsite parking with paved sidewalks from the parking lot to the shelter.
- The park can be accessed via bus #11 or #94. We also strive to arrange rides for those who need – let us know if you need one in the registration form.
Rosh Hashanah Day 2 – Intergenerational Program
Sunday, September 13th | 10:00am-12:00pm | Strawberry Pond, North Chagrin Reservation (map) | All ages welcome! | Register by Monday, September 7th
Join Rabbi Miriam and Laurel for a nature-based, experiential holiday program for all ages! We will taste different honeys for a sweet new year, engage in interactive storytelling to help us reflect on the past year and the year to come, and head to the water for tashlich and shofar.
(Please note that, because the practice is not to blow shofar on shabbes, we will not be blowing shofar on Rosh Hashanah Day 1. Please come to Day 2 if you want to hear shofar or do communal tashlich.)
Access, Weather, & Transit Info:
- You can read our Health Equity Brit here, which everyone is asked to agree to when they register.
- There is a small parking lot immediately next to the shelter, which can be used by those with mobility access needs (more parking is available a short walk away).
- There is a paved path from both the general and the accessible parking lot to the pavilion. Most of the program will be in or near the pavilion.
- For tashlich, we will head to the water together, which is 0.2 miles away, mostly paved but including a short stretch of unpaved dirt. There is also a parking lot next to the pond, so driving from the pavilion to the pond is also an option for access.
- There are Romtec ADA vault toilets (non-flushing) near the pavilion.
- In the case of rain, we will still meet, protected by the pavilion roof. In the case of severe weather, we will let you know if we decide to cancel.
- We will provide hand warmers if it’s chilly. Please dress for the weather.
- Unfortunately, this park is not accessible via public transit. We will strive to arrange rides for those who need – let us know if you need one in the registration form.
Kol Nidrei
Sunday, September 20th | 7:00pm Doors Open | 7:15pm Prayer | Pilgrim UCC, Tremont (map) | Adult Oriented with childcare provided (see details above) | Masks required | Register by Tuesday, September 15th
Join us in yearnful song and soulful prayer, as the Gates of Teshuvah (returning/repentance) open wide. Hallie and Nick Turnberrez will lead us in Kol Nidrei, as we enter the holiest day of the year.
We invite you to wear a tallit if that is a meaningful practice for you.
If you made a soul candle with us during Elul, we invite you to bring it to Kol Nidrei to light during the service.
Access & Transit Info:
- You can read our Health Equity Brit here, which everyone is asked to agree to when they register. As this event is indoors, masks are required. We will utilize a medical grade HEPA filter.
- The building is ADA accessible.
- There is a gender neutral ADA bathroom.
- There is a parking lot onsite.
- The church can be accessed via bus #51 and 51A (half mile walk), or via the Red Rapid Line (1 mile walk). We also strive to arrange rides for those who need – let us know if you need one in the registration form.
Yom Kippur Day
Monday, September 21st | 10:00am-9:00pm – come to part or all | Acacia Reservation, Lyndhurst (map) | Adult Oriented with childcare provided (see details above) | Register by Tuesday, September 15th
On Yom Kippur Day, we invite you also to enjoy the park. In between or even during afternoon sessions, we invite you to walk among the trees, head to the water, journal, and use this space and time however is most meaningful for you. We will have poetry and other materials available to inspire self-reflection and journaling. Please take care of your body and soul however you need.
If wearing a tallit is a meaningful practice for you, we invite you to wear one throughout Yom Kippur, from Kol Nidrei through Neilah.
***10:00am Doors Open***
***10:30am-1:30pm Shachrit: Morning Prayer***
Join us for Yom Kippur morning prayers, which will include singing, poetry, and Torah reading.
***1:30-2:30pm Extended Break***
***2:30-3:45pm Learning: No one is canceled on Yom Kippur – with Rebbitser Itsik Kittila & Rabbi Miriam Geronimus***
In our Yom Kippur liturgy we pray for atonement in the collective voice, even declaring that we permit into our midst those who have previously been shut out of community due to their wrongdoing. What does it mean for us to let them back in and for teshuvah (repair) to be communal? What are our obligations to each other to enable teshuvah?
***4:00-5:30pm Nizkor (we remember): holding our grief***
We will hold space for ourselves and each other to grieve the losses of the past year, both individual and collective. If there is a loss from a previous year that is on your heart or that you never had a space to grieve, that is welcome here too. We will make space for any and all grief that folks want to share.
We will use a variety of modalities to help us access and co-metabolize our grief, including but not limited to: embodied practice, singing, journaling, and voicing our feelings out loud.
Due to the nature of this space, we ask you to be on time. It is disruptive to the container of trust for people to join late. Therefore, once we begin, the circle will be closed.
***5:45-6:45pm Embodied Practice – with Dana Hercbergs & Jennie Rosenstiel***
Join us for quiet contemplation of the five natural elements (earth, mineral, water, vegetal, and fire) and their associated qualities and metaphors. Spending time with nature’s phases allows us to slow down and recognize each element’s gifts and shadowy aspects, as well as the relationships among them. We will be invited to sense the elemental qualities needed to support ourselves this season, recognizing our complexity and wholeness. There will be time for journaling, opportunities for sharing, and to use the time as you like.
***6:45-7:15pm Personal time with the Torah***
There is a practice of spending time with the Torah just before Yom Kippur closes. During this extended break we will open the ark and anyone who wants can spend a few minutes with the Torah, individually or as part of a small group. This is a chance to voice your prayers, yearnings, and dreams to the Universe with Torah as witness, as the day nears its close.
***7:15-8:15pm Neilah (closing prayers) + Havdalah***
As the Gates of Teshuvah (returning/repentance) begin to close, we will return once more to yearnful song and soulful prayer. Combining traditional prayers with alternative prayers and poetry, we will seal ourselves into the year ahead.
We will transition to havdalah (the blessings distinguishing between Yom Kippur and the following day) around 8:00pm.
***8:15pm Break-fast***
Whether or not you spent the day fasting, we invite you to share this meal with us. We will have bagels and fixings, including GF and DF options.
Even if you won’t be joining us for Neilah (closing prayers), we invite you to join us for Havdalah (the blessings distinguishing between Yom Kippur and the following day), which will begin around 8:00pm, just before the meal.
Access, Weather, & Transit Info:
- Weather permitting, we will be outside on a grassy field near Acacia Shelter. In the case of rain, we will move into the shelter. Break-fast will be in Acacia Shelter, with the option to eat outside as well.
- The shelter is enclosed with both heating and air conditioning and four large garage doors to increase air flow. We will also use a medical grade HEPA filter.
- You can read our Health Equity Brit here, which everyone is asked to agree to when they register.
- There are flush, wheelchair accessible restrooms both inside and next to the shelter.
- Outside, we will use a mixture of camping and folding chairs. Inside, seating will primarily be at picnic tables. We will place folding chairs on the ends of tables for those who need a chair with a back. There is also space for wheelchairs at the ends of tables. We invite you to bring anything that will make sitting more comfortable and accessible for you, including your own chair, or bleacher seat cushions with backrests to use at the picnic tables.
- We will provide warm drinks and hand warmers if it’s chilly. Please dress for the weather.
- There is onsite parking with paved sidewalks from the parking lot to the shelter.
- The park can be accessed via bus #11 or #94. We also strive to arrange rides for those who need – let us know if you need one in the registration form.