Message From The Rabbi

Want to do something really cool…and meaningful?

Saturday night, September 28^th, we are going to have our Selichot service outside, under the stars.  Selichot is what I call ‘the soft opening’ for the High Holy days, and is meant to put us in a certain headspace a few days before Rosh HaShanah.

Your rabbis have spent considerable time finding poetry[i] from contemporary poets to weave between the beautiful traditional prayers that are sung as we prepare for the Days of Awe.

We will include the age-old custom of changing our torah covers to their white mantels, representing purity and the wish that through our ‘internal wrestling’, our slate will be once again clean (white as snow” -Isaiah 1:18)

And… we will once again offer a ‘new custom’, one that involves fire! 

As part of our (short) service, you will have the chance to write down your regrets from this past year (what you would like to change about yourself, your behaviors), and, as the moon begins to rise, to symbolically burn your note in an open hearth. [ii]

So…An offer to be part of a contemplative spiritual experience under the stars, with poetry and prayer, new innovations alongside age-old traditions. 

You would do this together with your family, your rabbis, and your community. 

Won’t you please join us!

Leil Selichot
Dessert: 6:30pm
Service: 7:00pm
Rain location: Sanctuary

Register HERE

B’shalom,