Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are for us the culmination of a month-long period of reflection – a process of reconsidering our lives, our deeds, and our relationships. As the holidays approach, we prepare ourselves with a special late-night service of selihot – haunting prayers of repentance. Check back for updates about our 2024/5785 High Holy Day season.
Though the two days of Rosh Hashanah are indeed solemn, they are also a time of celebration. Our services combine some of the liturgy’s most moving prayers with some of its most joyous songs, creating a truly intense and meaningful spiritual experience.
We use our own special prayerbook (machzor), which provides the Hebrew texts, modern English translations, transliterations, and additional readings, allowing everyone to pray in their own way.
The high point is the blowing of the shofar (ram’s horn) whose piercing tones call us to repentance. On the first afternoon, we also gather by the reservoir for the symbolic custom of Tashlikh, casting away our sins upon the waters.
This, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, is focused on self-reflection, self-purification, and atonement. We fast to help concentrate our minds. Many of us also dress symbolically in white. Our prayers reverberate in the packed sanctuary, expressing the deepest feelings and hopes of the whole community.
The services reflect the day’s significance, starting with the awe inspiring Kol Nidrei, when we rededicate our commitment to God and ourselves.
In the afternoon is Yizkor, when we remember our loved ones who are no longer with us, followed by Minhah (the afternoon prayer) which is dedicated to LGBTQ and our commitmtent to equality. The day then draws to a close with the Ne’ila service, the last moment for repentance, in which we imagine the Gates of Heaven closing before our very eyes.
This is a special moment in the life of TBZ as we throw open the sanctuary and invite everyone to join us. Literally hundreds of Jews from all over Boston stand shoulder to shoulder with us in prayer, awaiting the shofar blast that marks the end of the day. The intense feeling of community and solidarity this creates gives everyone an amazing spiritual charge, carrying us into the new year on the crest of a wave.
The High Holidays at TBZ are truly remarkable. We invite you to experience them too!