The High Holiday season begins with Elul, the preparatory month leading up to Rosh Hashanah. This year, Elul begins on the evening of Tuesday, September 3rd. During this month, we have an abundance of offerings to help our bodies and souls land more deeply in this moment, as we begin to turn ourselves toward Rosh Hashanah. 

More details below.

Join us for an evening of song, as we learn some of the melodies we’ll be singing during the High Holidays. This is a great way to orient your body and soul toward this time of year, while becoming more familiar with some of the prayers and melodies we’ll be singing on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Access:
– There are 5 steps to get inside the house
– The bathroom is on the second floor
– This is a pet free home

On the cusp of the new year and the edge of nightfall, join us by the lake for a dusk hike where we will hopefully see migrating monarch butterflies!

The 88 acres known as the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve sits atop a former disposal facility for sediment and garbage dredged from the Cuyahoga River during the late 1970s clean-up efforts. Since about 1999 the facility has been left to nature to reclaim, and in 2012 the Port Authority cut trails for birding and opened it to the public. This now beautiful lakefront property hosts almost 300 species of birds throughout the year, and during fall migration it is also host to monarch butterflies. Though weather and other migrating conditions are unpredictable, we may hope to see a large group of monarchs resting after their trek from Canada across the Great Lakes before they head further south for warmth. 

We will meet under the big tree by the parking lot. Laurel Simkoff will lead us on the flat 1.5 mile outer loop to see beautiful sunset lake views, and all of the diverse flora and fauna that call the lakefront home. We are excited to be returning to one of the places we hiked together early in our community history!

Please eat an early dinner or snack beforehand, and if folks want we can grab a late dinner nearby afterward.

Just a few days before Rosh Hashanah, join us for a very special afternoon and evening, as the doors of tshuvah (returning/repentance) begin to crack open. We will orient our hearts and bodies toward the Days of Awe in a few different ways.

You’re welcome to join for any or all parts. Please register below, so we can make sure to have enough food and materials. The precise locations will be sent to those who register.

4:30pm – We will begin in Lakeview Cemetery (precise location to be sent to those who register) in order to reclaim the Ashkenazi women’s folk practice of measuring wicks for soul candles. (All genders welcome!) Annabel Cohen explains, “for centuries, Jewish women in Eastern Europe measured cemeteries and graves with thread [during Elul]. They used the threads to make special neshome likht [soul candles] [for Yom Kippur].” This practice acknowledges our fragility and vulnerability, and embodies our hopes and fears for the coming year.