High Holy Day Services at Nehar Shalom:
What to expect
Erev RH
6:30-7:15 - In this brief service, we cross the threshold into the new year. We welcome each other, welcome the new year, and welcome ourselves into the yamim noraim, the days of awe. It will last under an hour.
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Rosh Hashanah Morning (Day 1 & 2)
Rosh Hashanah morning services are similar in structure to Shabbat morning services, with a lot of added material. Approximate times listed below.
8:30-9:00 - Pesukei d’Zimra
Verses of praise - singing, chanting, and poetry help us wake up, arrive, and set our intentions for the day
9:00-10:00 - Shaharit
Beginning with hamelech, the image of a king sitting on a lofty throne, the liturgy introduces us to themes of Rosh Hashana: creation and renewal, memory, judgment, and returning to that which is most important. Within the Shaharit Amidah, several piyutim, or liturgical poem-songs, are added.
10-10:45 - Torah Service
10:45 - 11:10 - Rabbi’s Drasha/Teaching
11:10 - Shofar
We rise in body or spirit and let the sound of the shofar do its sacred work within us
11:20 - Putting the Torah away and a speech by the president of our board of directors
11:30 - 1:30 - Musaf for Rosh Hashana
Includes most of the liturgy’s greatest hits. Following a quiet, personal time for prayer, the repetition of the Amidah begins with Hineni, a plea offered by the shlichat tzibur (prayer leader) in their role as a channel of the community’s prayer. Unetaneh Tokef famously asks: who will live and who will die? Who by fire and who by water? And reminds us that teshuva, tefila, and tzedaka give us agency and meaning in our lives. We continue with some lively singing of more piyutim, followed by three sections of liturgy that contain poetry, Biblical verses, and shofar blasts related to three themes: Malchuyot/Sovereignty; Zichronot/Remembering; and Shofarot/the call of the shofar. We then finish the Amidah and bring the service to a close.
Erev Yom Kippur: Kol Nidre and Ma’ariv
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5:30 - Kol Nidre
This is one service people arrive at early, so as not to miss the haunting melody of kol nidre, in which we release ourselves from vows. The service begins with a procession of all of our Torah scrolls. Kol Nidre is then chanted three times, followed by Mourners’ Kaddish.
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Ma’ariv - Barchu and the Shema take us up to the Amidah, when we begin the deep work of Yom Kippur. The liturgy includes both selichot,centered on forgiveness, and vidui, the liturgy of confession. This section culminates with Avinu Malkeinu.
Rabbi’s Drasha
Closing - the service concludes around 7:30pm.
Yom Kippur Morning
Approximate times listed below.
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8:30-9:00 - Pesukei d’Zimra
Verses of praise - singing, chanting, and poetry help us wake up, arrive, and set our intentions for the day
9:00-10:20 - Shaharit for Yom Kippur
Similar to Rosh Hashana, with additional piyyutim (poem-songs), and the special Yom Kippur prayers of forgiveness and confession.
10:20-11:20 - Torah Service
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11:20-11:40 - Drasha
This year, rabbinical student Hadar Ahuvia, our high holy days co-leader, will share Torah on Yom Kippur morning
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11:40 - 12:00 - Yizkor
A memorial service, in which we connect with those who have died and pray for their peace. We say personal and communal memorial prayers. Some people who have not lost an immediate family member choose to leave during Yizkor; everyone is welcome to stay and there is no right or wrong way to do it.
12:00 - 2:00 - Musaf
We begin by putting away the Torah, and continue with a silent amidah. The repetition includes hineni and unetaneh tokef, as on Rosh Hashana, as well as some lively singing. The Musaf service also includes Avodah, a recitation of the ancient Yom Kippur ritual that took place in the Temple, which Hadar will lead us through in a contemplative way, and Eleh Ezkerah, in which we take time to remember and grieve collective traumas.
Yom Kippur Afternoon: Mincha and Ne’ila
4:00 - 5:30: - Mincha
Begins with reading from the Torah and the Book of Jonah, followed by recitation of prayers familiar from the morning service.
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5:30-7:00 - Ne’ila
The dramatic closing service, our last chance to say the prayers of confession. We open ourselves with song, prayer, and the closeness we have created as a community through so many hours of prayer. Ne’ila ends with one long blast of the shofar, and then we sing havdala together.