**If you are registering after 10:30am on 10/11, please note that we have left the office for the holiday. In order to receive confirmation details, you'll need to select the option to pay by credit card (confirmation details automatically send once payment is received). Also, please be sure to make yourself a name tag as enter. Thanks for joining us and see you soon.**
All are welcome to attend the High Holidays with the Kavana community! Click here for a list of F.A.Q. and general information. Advance registration is required. Here is the schedule:
Tuesday, October 11th - Erev Yom Kippur / Kol Nidre
5:30pm: Kol Nidre Service
We'll start communal singing and lighting of memorial candles, followed by Kol Nidre performed on violin by Kavana partner Clayton Seibel and then the Kol Nidre prayer.
~6:30 - 8:15pm: Yom Kippur Sermon + Kol Nidre Prayer Services and Meditation
Rabbi Rachel will deliver a Yom Kippur sermon to the whole community, and then we will break into two different groups for the remainder of the evening:
- Kol Nidre Prayer Service - Thoughtfully designed to incorporate both Hebrew and English, song and reflection, this service will move through the traditional Yom Kippur evening liturgy. This service will be led by Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, Rabbi Sydney Danziger, and Renna Khuner-Haber.
- Kol Nidre Meditation Workshop - This session will include instruction, interactive discussion, and silent meditation time. Please bring a mat, towel/blanket or cushion with you. This workshop will be led by Alison Laichter.
Wednesday, October 12th - Yom Kippur Day
9:00 am - 6:15 pm: Yom Kippur Meditation Workshops
Jewish meditation leader Alison Laichter will facilitate a day-long series of workshops, silent meditation sessions, and a walking meditation. Please bring a mat, towel, blanket or cushion to use throughout the day. The Yom Kippur Meditation Workshops will be held in a separate location this year, just a few blocks from other High Holiday services/programs.
9:00 - 11:00 am: Family Services & Program
(For preschool and elementary school children and their parents.) Rabbi Rachel & Rabbi Sydney will lead a family service from 9 to 9:45am the sanctuary, followed by an hour of theme-based activities designed for parents and children together. Families will be grouped for these activities based on kids' ages: preschoolers, grades K-2, and grades 3-5. (If middle and high school students are interested in volunteering to help with the younger kids' groups, please email us.)
10:00 am - 2:30 pm: Yom Kippur Traditional Morning Services
We will begin promptly at 10 am with our Pseukei D'zimra/ "dawn chanting," followed by the traditional Shacharit/Morning Service, Torah service, and Musaf. Yizkor (a memorial service for loved ones who have died) will take place towards the end of the Torah service, shortly after noon. Traditional Yom Kippur elements including Avodah (the service of the Kohen Gadol) and Martyrology will be embedded in Musaf in the early afternoon. Services will be led by Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, Renna Khuner-Haber and a number of volunteers from the Kavana community, and will be conducted mostly in Hebrew, with some explanations and Torah discussion in English.
11:30 am - 1:30 pm: Yom Kippur Alternative Service
Rabbi Sydney will be offering a liberal Jewish service, designed for adults and teens to create a heightened sense of mindfulness as we enter the new year. By focusing on middot, character traits, we will explore some central Jewish ethical teachings that can help to guide us as we work towards improving our inner selves in 5777. In this special service, we will pray, sing, meditate, reflect, and share with one another our personal ambitions for who we would like to be in the coming year and how our Jewish tradition can help us to realize those aspirations.
12:30 - 1:30 pm: Parallel Yom Kippur Torah Discussions Kavana educators Maxine Alloway and Gillian Locascio will lead parallel learning sessions for our pre- and post-b'nai mitzvah students.
3:15 - 4:15 pm: Yoga Session
All are welcome (regardless of yoga experience) - please bring a yoga mat or towel. Led by Stacy Lawson.
4:20 - 5:40 pm: Book of Jonah Text Study and Discussion
5:45 pm: Neilah/Closing Service
Led by Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, we will end the day as a single community again, as we recite the Yom Kippur liturgy for the final time and mark the "closing of the gates." Alison Laichter will lead a short meditation, incorporated into the Neilah service, and Rabbi Sydney Danziger will deliver a sermon.
7:06 pm: Final Shofar Blast
~7:10 pm: Break-the-Fast Meal
All are welcome to stick around for a light meal (bagels, juice, etc.) to end the Yom Kippur fast.
