Looking for a place to celebrate the High Holidays? Join the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation for services that honor tradition while exploring new and meaningful Jewish paths.
Our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services are open, ticketless, and available to all. Our musical and participatory services are led by Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner, accompanied by guest Cantorial Soloist Gabrielle Pescador.
To ensure community safety during the pandemic, all High Holidays services and workshops are accessed through Zoom. Though our connections to one another are remote, we are creating experiences that are participatory and engaging: live services with Torah reading, reflections, and poetry from members; live family services and pre-recorded family activities; text studies and workshops; a guide for making the holidays special at home; and self-guided rituals for moments of self-reflection.
AARC member households will receive curated Tishrei Boxes and Reconstructionist machzorim, as well as links to all Zoom services and workshops.
Non-members are welcome. To join us for any of our services or workshops, please complete this High Holiday Registration Form. Once the form has been completed, you will be emailed a link to all Zoom services and a PDF of the Reconstructionist High Holiday prayer book Kol HaNeshama.
We are committed to providing a heartfelt and meaningful prayer experience that is accessible to everyone. If an accommodation would make our services more accessible to you, please email us.
We look forward to spending this sacred time with you; if you have any questions or concerns, please email us!
| When | What | Time and Details |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, Sept. 18 | Erev Rosh Hashanah | 7:00 - 8:15 pm |
| Saturday, Sept. 19 | Rosh Hashanah Day 1 Service | 10 am – 12:30 pm |
| Children's Service Children’s Activity | Prerecorded 9:30 am |
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| Workshop: The Story of Sarah and Hagar in Art, Poetry, and Our Own Reflections | 2 pm Sign up here |
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| Workshop: Birth/Fertility and Its Opposite: Personal Reflections | 4 pm Sign up here |
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| Sunday, Sept 20 | Rosh Hashanah Day 2 Meditation and Chanting Service | 10 am – 10:35 am |
| Rabbi’s Shiur (class) | 10:45 – 12 pm | |
| Monday, Sept 21 | Workshop: Peace with Palestine: what is to be done, and undone? A discussion with peace activist Alan Haber | 7 pm Sign up here |
| Thursday Sept 24 | Workshop: Cultivating Self-Forgiveness: A Practice for the Days of Awe | 7 pm To register, email Anita |
| Sunday Sept 27 | Workshop: Jonah (and the Whale): A Teshuva Journey through Art and Midrash | 10 am-12 pm Sign up here |
| Kol Nidrei | 6:45 candle-lighting and gathering 7:00 pm sharp, Kol Nidrei service |
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| Monday Sept 28 | Yom Kippur Morning service | 10 am – 12:30 pm |
| Children’s Service Children’s Activity | Prerecorded 9:30 am |
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| Open Community Discussion Room | 1:00-4:00 | |
| Community Yizkor | 4:30 - 6 pm A non-traditional service offering mourners the opportunity to share some words about the person they lost. (Please plan on taking no more than 4 minutes, so that all may participate.) |
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| Ne’ilah | 7 pm | |
| Final Shofar | 8 pm |
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