Join us for Kol Nidrei & Yom Kippur Day! We offer a wide range of modalities – please join us for whichever aspects feel meaningful.
Registration closes Sunday, October 6th.
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, journal, and use this space and time however is most meaningful for you.
If wearing a tallit is a meaningful practice for you, we invite you to wear one throughout Yom Kippur, from Kol Nidrei through Neilah.
More details and registration below – help us plan by letting us know when you plan to join us!
Health, Weather & Accessibility Info:
Help us take care of each other! Please sign our health equity brit (covenant) before coming to in-person CJC gatherings. Masking is required indoors.
Kol Nidrei will be indoors, at Pilgrim UCC in Tremont, masks required. The building is ADA accessible and there is a gender neutral bathroom. There is a parking lot next to the church, and it is also accessible via public transit. The #51 and 51A bus stops about 1/2 mile away. The Red Rapid Line stops about 1 mile away. We may also be able to arrange rides.
All Yom Kippur Day sessions will be in or near an outdoor pavilion at Garfield Reservation in Garfield Heights. 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.
On Yom Kippur Day, seating will be a combination of picnic benches, folding chairs, and blankets and pillows on the ground. We invite you to bring anything that will make sitting more comfortable and accessible for you.
There is a parking lot next to the pavilion and a flat paved path from the parking lot to the pavilion. Both bus #19 and #48 have stops about 1 mile away. We also strive to arrange rides for those who need – let us know if you need one in the registration form below!
Kol Nidrei
Friday, October 11th | 7:30-9:00pm | Pilgrim UCC, Tremont (here) | Adult Oriented (let us know in the registration form if childcare would be helpful!)
Join us in yearnful song and soulful prayer, as the Gates of Tshuvah (returning/repentance) open wide. Claudia Cangemi (trombone) and Cicely Schonberg (vocals) will lead us in Kol Nidrei, as we enter the holiest day of the year.
Yom Kippur Day
Saturday, October 12th | 10:00am-8:30pm | Garfield Reservation, Garfield Heights (here) | Adult Oriented with childcare provided
New this year is our childcare co-op, made up of CJC parents and those with childcare experience, who will be taking shifts to supervise the children throughout the day. Children are welcome to play on the playground and explore thematic crafts and activities provided by CJC. We will have also have snacks for the kids. Feel free to bring activities and food you know your kid will enjoy. More info about the co-op to come.
***10:00-11:15am Learning: Wrestling with Prayer***
Traditionally, Yom Kippur is a day full of prayer. But the prescribed liturgy doesn’t work for all of us – the prayers are long, in a language many of us don’t know, and often use God language that can be alienating. Whether you describe yourself as agnostic, believer, atheist, or unsure, we invite you to join us as we learn about some of the prayers that are unique to Yom Kippur. What, if any, resonance might these prayers hold for each of us? How might our experience of prayer shift or deepen through our learning?
***11:30-1:30pm Shachrit: Morning Prayer***
Join us for Yom Kippur morning prayers, during which we will embody what we’ve just learned. Our prayers will include singing, poetry, shofar, and Torah reading.
The learning and prayer are meant to enhance each other, but feel free to come to either or both parts.
***1:30-2:15 Extended Break***
We invite you to walk among the trees, 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.
***2:15-4:00pm 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.
During our grief space we will pay special attention to the grief of October 7th and its aftermath. We will mark the yortseit (anniversary) of the Oct 7th deaths (just a couple days earlier in the Gregorian calendar, and coming up on Simchat Torah on the Hebrew calendar), and we will honor the tremendous loss of Palestinian life since Oct 7th.
As part of this space, we will create an altar or physical memorial of our grief. We invite you to bring an item to contribute to this memorial – any physical object that you feel is connected to or represents something or someone you have lost this past year.
***4:15-5:45pm Embodied Practice with Ryn and Nicole***
Ryn Laurel Abarbanel and Nicole Born-Crow will lead us in a practice of grounding and release through somatics, guided meditation, holistic healing and journaling. We will open ourselves to the support of the earth and our ancestors as we enter the final phases of this Yom Kipportal.
Yoga mats, blankets and journals are welcome but not required. Writing is optional if that is within your Yom Kippur practice.
***6:00-7:30pm Neilah (closing prayers) + Havdalah***
As the Gates of Tshuvah (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 7:15pm.
***7:30pm Break-fast***
Whether or not you spent the day fasting, we invite you to share this meal with us.
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 7:15pm, just before the meal.