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Where to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in New York City this year
This story will be updated throughout Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
(New York Jewish Week) — Labor Day Weekend signals two things: The end of the summer and, for the Jewish community, the onset of the High Holidays.
On Rosh Hashanah, a two-day holiday that begins on the evening of Sept. 15, Jews usher in the New Year of 5784. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins with the Kol Nidre service on the evening of Sept. 24 and continues through sundown on Sept. 25.
Not a member of a synagogue or not sure how you’re going to mark the holidays this year? Not to worry. The New York Jewish Week has put together a list of local options, ranging from traditional synagogue services and family-friendly programs to volunteer opportunities and comedy shows. Our selection spans boroughs and price points, though all are open to the public.
Whether you celebrate the High Holidays with a festive meal, praying in shul with fellow Jews or listening to a concert of liturgical music, there’s no shortage of ways to spend the Days of Awe in New York City. Keep scrolling to learn more.
Is your synagogue or Jewish organization hosting High Holiday services or events that are open to the public? Send an email to jgergely@jewishweek.org with the details if you’d like us to add it to our list!
High Holiday services in Manhattan
Temple Emanu-El’s downtown campus offers programming curated for families with young children, including honey tasting, music, crafts and food. (Temple Emanu-El)
Ohel Ayalah
Ohel Ayalah is hosting in-person services for both days of Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. The traditional, egalitarian service is aimed at Jews in their 20s and 30s who are not already connected to a Jewish community. The service is free and open to the public, though pre-registration is recommended.
JCC Harlem
Rabbi Mira Rivera, one of our 2023 “36 to Watch” honorees, will lead in-person services open to the public at JCC Harlem this year on each day of Rosh Hashanah, as well as on Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur. Tickets start at $18 for family services and $36 for standard services. JCC Harlem and Embrace Harlem will also host a “wine down” walk and tashlich (casting one’s “sins” into a body of water) in Morningside Park on Sept. 17 at 4 p.m., with tickets starting at $54 per family.
B’nai Jeshurun
The Upper West Side congregation will host a number of offerings for their Aviv community, which they describe as “Jewish young adults in their 20s and 30s, professionals and students, singles and couples, all committed to creating a Jewish life.” Aviv programming includes an Erev Rosh Hashanah dinner, Rosh Hashanah day one morning services, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur and Break Fast. Tickets are $36 per service per meal for non-members. Learn more here.
92NY
This year, the Upper East Side community center is hosting in-person services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. There will be a family service for those with children under 6; a youth service for kids ages 6-12 and a main service for adults. A combined all-access ticket costs $299, while individual services cost $95. Buy tickets and learn more here.
Temple Emanu-El
The Upper East Side’s Temple Emanu-El will host a range of High Holiday services open to the public this year. Rosh Hashanah services for families with young children at the Helen Mills Theater in Chelsea will include honey tasting, music, crafts and food. The ticket for this service starts at $220, and is part of a package that includes access to the teens, young families and “participatory singing” services throughout the holidays. There will also be a Young Professionals Rosh Hashanah Shabbat Dinner on Sept. 15 for $45 per person. Many of the services will be livestreamed for the public on Facebook and Youtube. See the full schedule here.
Lab/Shul
Experimental Jewish community Lab/Shul is back at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center this year with High Holiday offerings centered around the theme of “Havaya,” which they translate to “Everpresence” or “Existence.” Per Lab/Shul’s website, the services will be “meaningful, musical and meditative celebrations that fuse our oldest liturgies with contemporary art, engaging learning programs, and communal conversations.” The services are “all ages, all backgrounds, god-optional, artist driven, everybody friendly.” Tickets are $110 per service or $370 for all-access; they will also be livestreamed for free. Register here.
High Holiday services in Brooklyn
Dirah
Dirah, a Chabad-affiliated organization and open-to-all community in Carroll Gardens, is hosting High Holiday services this year at Hannah Senesh Community Day School. Their website describes the offerings as “engaging and explanatory services [that] will blend contemporary meditations & messages with timeless melodies and traditional prayers.” Tashlich will be held at the Gowanus Canal. No membership or fees are required to attend. Learn more here.
Egalitarian Sephardi and Mizrahi services
Jews for Racial & Economic Justice has organized egalitarian Sephardi and Mizrahi services for Erev Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre and Neilah (Yom Kippur afternoon), which will take place in the social hall of Park Slope’s Congregation Beth Elohim. The services will be led by musician Laura Elkeslassy, a New York Jewish Week “36er” from 2022. There is a suggested ticket price of $36 per service. Learn more here.
Congregation Beth Elohim
Congregation Beth Elohim will host several services open to the public, including a free, all-Hebrew service for Israelis led by Rabbi Josh Weinberg. Rabbi Matt Green will lead Brooklyn Jews, “an experimental community for young Brooklynites looking to enter the Jewish conversation through art, text, politics, food and ritual,” for services at CBE in Park Slope and at the Union Temple House of CBE in Prospect Heights. Tickets are $40 per service or $140 for an all-access pass.
East Midwood Jewish Center
Want to spend the High Holidays in the same sanctuary that Mrs. Maisel and her family prayed in? Get tickets to attend services at East Midwood Jewish Center, a Conservative, egalitarian synagogue in the heart of Midwood, Brooklyn, which was used as the location for all the synagogue scenes in the beloved Amazon show. Non-member tickets cost $200 for either the sanctuary or Zoom, covering all holidays, and all services led by Rabbi Cantor Sam Levine. There are multiple kids services and activities, for children 12 and under, all free of charge. Learn more here.
Romemu Brooklyn
Join Romemu Brooklyn, a “growing, dynamic, and Neo-Hasidic congregation,” for High Holiday services focused on the theme of “looking up.” The main “looking up” musical service will be led by Rabbi Scott Perlo and Hazzan Basya Schecter. Other offerings include an Erev Rosh Hashanah concert featuring music and stories, family services for children under 6 and a one-hour service, “Kids Rock the High Holy Days,” for elementary school-aged kids. The services will take place at The Arches, an event space and outdoor garden in Crown Heights. Tickets range from $49-$99, with an option to buy an all-access ticket to all services for $297. Learn more here.
High Holiday services in Queens
Malkhut
Malkhut, a progressive Jewish spiritual community in Western Queens, is hosting free and open-to-the-public High Holiday services this year at CUNY School of Law in Long Island City centered on the theme “Enough.” Register and find more information here.
Ashreynu
Ashreynu, a pluralistic, musical congregation based in Astoria, is hosting free services open to the public. The first day of Rosh Hashanah will be at the synagogue while the second day will be at Ralph Demarco Park. RSVP and find the full schedule here.
High Holiday services in the Bronx
Hebrew Institute of Riverdale
The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, also known as The Bayit, is offering “guest seats” to the public for the High Holidays. The synagogue is “open Orthodox,” which they define as “serving the entire Jewish community by warmly embracing all Jews, regardless of affiliation, commitment, orientation, race, or background.” In addition to services at The Bayit, there will also be an outdoor minyan in partnership with Century Minyan. Tickets for the Bayit service start at $350 for the entire High Holiday season; tickets for the outdoor minyan start at $225. Register and find the full schedule here.
High Holiday services in Staten Island
Congregation B’nai Israel
Join Congregation B’nai Israel, a Conservative synagogue in Staten Island, for services this year. Tickets start at $100. Email office@sicbi.com to register in advance.
Beyond the synagogue services
Rabbi Steven Blane will lead the Sim Shalom Jewish Universalist Online Synagogue’s High Holidays services at the Bitter End jazz club. (William Alatriste)
The Nosher’s gluten-free holiday baking class
On Sept. 6 at 7 p.m., our partner site The Nosher will host a holiday baking class focusing on all the delicious ways to make your favorite treats gluten-free. The class will be taught by Orly Gottesman, a “36 to Watch” honoree and the owner and chef at Modern Bread and Bagel and Thyme and Tonic. Tickets for the online event start at $25.
Reverse tashlich with Repair the Sea
Join Repair the Sea on Sunday, Sept. 10 for their annual “Reverse Tashlich”: a day of volunteering doing waterfront cleanup. Several New York area synagogues are organizing clean-ups; check out the full list and register to join them here.
Monajat album release party with Galeet Dardashti
In a new album, singer Galeet Dardashti has reimagined the tradition of Selichot, the prayers of repentance said in the lead up to the High Holidays. Dardashti has put together an album of original songs inspired by recordings of the Jewish prayers of her late grandfather, the Persian singer Younes Dardashti. In collaboration with the Neighborhood: An Urban Center for Jewish Life, Dardashti is releasing this album at Littlefield NYC on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $18. Learn more here.
Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan
The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan on the Upper West Side will host a number of ways to engage in and prepare for the High Holidays. On Sept. 12, join Rabbi Miriam Herscher and Rabbi Adam Huttel for “The Healing Shofar: A Night of Remembrance,” a free virtual class about grieving the loss of a loved one. On Kol Nidre, the JCC will host an orchestral concert with Israeli cellist Elad Kabilio featuring liturgical and secular music. Get tickets for $25. There will also be a “pay-what-you-wish” tashlich service on Sept. 19 at Riverside Park. Visit their website for more info.
Workers Circle
The Workers Circle will host hour-long Zoom events on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur. The Rosh Hashanah session will be a “joyous musical celebration of unity, action, and renewal” and will include readings and performances by Jewish educators and Yiddish musicians. The Yom Kippur session will feature similar performances with an aim to “sing, share stories, reflect on the past year, and together commit to critical activism to make our world a better and more beautiful place for all.” Tickets are $25 for Workers Circle members and $36 for non-members; click here for info.
Shofar Across Brooklyn
UJA-Federation New York has once again teamed up with several synagogues and communities in Brooklyn to put together the “Shofar Across Brooklyn,” a free, out-of-doors way to listen to the blowing of the shofar on Sept. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in various neighborhoods throughout the borough. Check out the map to find the location closest to you.
The Sway Machinery concert with Congregation Beth Elohim
Jeremiah Lockwood will be performing with his band, The Sway Machinery, for an immersive musical experience titled “The Dream Past: A Sonic Conjuring.” The concert, which will focus on cantorial revival music and draw upon High Holiday liturgy, will take place Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. It is hosted by Congregation Beth Elohim and will take place at Union Temple House in Prospect Heights. Tickets start at $18.
Rosh Hashanah at The Bitter End
Join Sim Shalom, a Jewish universalist synagogue, for their annual concert and jazz-heavy services led by Steven Blane, a musician and rabbi, and featuring a jazz quartet, held Sept. 16 at The Bitter End in the West Village. Sim Shalom will also be hosting online services for all the services throughout the holidays, including a livestream of The Bitter End concert. Tickets for The Bitter End concert start at $149; access to services online also start at $149.
Bowl Hashanah with Rabbi Daniel Brenner and Jeremiah Lockwood
Rosh Hashanah returns to Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Bowl this year with musical performances led by Jeremiah Lockwood, Antibalas’ Jordan McLean and others, plus a traditional Torah service led by Rabbi Daniel Brenner. Tickets for the Sept. 16 service start at $60. Learn more here.
Yom Kippur comedy show
Prepare for the Yom Kippur fast by laughing alongside Jewish comics at West Side Comedy Club. Orli Matlow hosts “The Days of HA: A Jewish High Holidays Comedy Show” on Sept. 20 at 9 p.m. Comics include Ariel Elias, Eitan Levine, Josh Gondelman and Dana Friedman. Get tickets for $10 here.
Famous Jewish food of New York tour
Get ready for the Yom Kippur fast by filling up on all of New York’s best Jewish food, including bagels, pastrami and lox, with Scott Goodfriend, who leads Ultimate Food Tours around New York City. He is hosting a special tour of Jewish food and history on the Upper East Side on Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. Get tickets for $90.
Looking for more?
In addition to the guide we’ve put together, be sure to check out UJA-Federation New York’s “Find-A-Service” list of High Holiday services across the city and surrounding areas, which includes services open to non-members at a range of ticket prices. (UJA-Federation is a funder of 70 Faces Media, the New York Jewish Week’s parent company.) Chabad Lubavitch also has a portal on their website to locate a Chabad-run service happening near you. For those that can’t make it to in-person services this year, our partner site, My Jewish Learning, has put together a list of virtual options of every service this High Holiday season.
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The post Where to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in New York City this year appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Vancouver artist who subverts Barbie and Ken claims antisemitism is behind her removal from a group exhibition
Dina Goldstein received conflicting accounts of the last-minute decision by the gallery.
The post Vancouver artist who subverts Barbie and Ken claims antisemitism is behind her removal from a group exhibition appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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‘I’ll F—k You Up’: A List of Attacks, Threats, Explicit Calls for Violence at Pro-Hamas University Encampments
A statue of George Washington tied with a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh inside a pro-Hamas encampment is pictured at George Washington University in Washington, DC, US, May 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Craig Hudson
Videos from recent pro-Hamas protests and encampments on university campuses show demonstrators attacking and threatening Jewish and pro-Israel individuals, as well as making explicit calls for violence.
On some campuses, administrators have decided to call in police forces to remove the encampments. Others have been more hesitant to do so or have been refused help by the city.
The encampments have reportedly made some Jewish students feel unsafe on campus. The Algemeiner documented an extensive list of pro-Hamas and antisemitic statements made at the Columbia University encampment shortly after it was set up. However, some observers have argued those statements are not representative of the movement as a whole.
Meanwhile, many voices have argued for the removal of the encampments on the grounds that members of them have attacked and threatened pro-Israel or Jewish students. But others don’t believe any physical threats or attacks have taken place. Journalist Glenn Greenwald, for example, called the idea of such attacks “a massive hoax that they’ve been perpetrating for months.”
Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the recent physical attacks and explicit calls for violence on campuses that suggest such fears are not simply a “hoax,” although debate will likely continue over how representative these incidents are of the larger anti-Israel movement.
At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a girl from a nearby school was kicked in the head and knocked unconscious. She had to go to the emergency room.
A video shows anti-Israel protesters detaining a pro-Israel student at UCLA. When he tried to escape, they chased him down, with at least one person exclaiming “get him,” and surrounded him again — making it impossible for him to leave.
In this video you can see he’s trying to escape a protestor blockade preventing access. He is running from them and they chase him down and surround him. Like they’re on a hunt. https://t.co/cDG7PVe9p4 pic.twitter.com/mKaIiaUpYz
— Parmis (@ParmisLJavan) May 1, 2024
Footage shows a woman following around a man — who was not engaging with her — and attempting to tase him.
A student journalist at Yale University was poked in the eye with a Palestinian flag by a protester. She had to be brought to the hospital.
At The George Washington University (GW), students acted out a “people’s tribunal,” where they charged the president of the university, Ellen Granberg, along with other members of the administration with various crimes. “Guillotine, Guillotine, Guillotine, Guillotine,” members of the encampment chanted.
A leader of the “people’s tribunal” said, “Bracey, Bracey [referring to school provost Christopher Bracey], we see you. You assault students too. Off to the motherf—king gallows with you.” She also said, “As you already know where I am sending her [to the guillotine], her and her f—kass bob.”
At the George Washington University Gaza Solidarity Encampment today, the protesters held a “People’s Tribunal” where they put President Ellen Granberg, Provost Christopher Bracey, the Board of Trustees, @GWPolice, and many others on trial.
Is it normal for students to want to… pic.twitter.com/M8F543q0MV
— Stu (@thestustustudio) May 3, 2024
Also at GW, when pro-Israel activist and Israel Defense Forces reservist Rudy Rochman came to campus, he was surrounded and people chanted, in Arabic, “God winning, Allah will take your life,” according to his video of the incident.
At DePaul University, an anti-Israel demonstrator displayed “10 fingers, followed by seven fingers [referencing Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7], and then the throat-slitting gesture in front of Jewish students.”
A visibly Jewish person filming an encampment at City University of New York was surrounded by a group and assaulted. When his kippah fell off, a member of the mob threatened, “Pick up the f—king hat, I’ll f—k you up.”
A group of anti-Israel protesters stole a man’s Star of David headscarf and beat him near the Met Gala in New York on Monday.
At Emory University, a protester threw a sign at the head of a police officer while a group was trying to push the officers back against a door.
Protesters were roaming around UCLA looking for Jews to harass and confront. “Where the Jews at, my n—a,” one exclaimed.
Demonstrators at Columbia University took over a building violently and held janitors there against their will.
Send information about additional incidents to jelbaum@algemeiner.com.
The post ‘I’ll F—k You Up’: A List of Attacks, Threats, Explicit Calls for Violence at Pro-Hamas University Encampments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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ADL Blasts Emerson College for Bailing Out Pro-Hamas Protesters
Illustrative: Pro-Hamas demonstrators at Columbia University in New York City, US, April 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has implored Emerson College in Boston to enforce its “own policies” and discipline pro-Hamas agitators there who have staged unauthorized demonstrations protesting the Israel-Hamas war and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.
For nearly three weeks, college students have been amassing in the hundreds at a growing number of schools, taking over sections of campuses by setting up “Gaza Solidarity Encampments” and refusing to leave unless administrators condemn and boycott Israel. Footage of the protests has shown demonstrators chanting in support of Hamas, calling for the destruction of Israel, and even threatening to harm members of the Jewish community on campus. In many cases, activists have also lambasted the US and Western civilization more broadly.
At Emerson College, the administration has accommodated protesters, going as far as dispatching staff “to all precincts” to bail out those whom police have arrested for trespassing — according to a statement issued by President Jay Bernhardt. Emerson has also asked the local district attorney not to try their cases and will give free housing to protesters “required to stay in town for court appearances,” where they will live following the conclusion of the academic year.
“The president of Emerson is going out of his way to make sure students who broke the law and violated Emerson’s own policies face no consequences,” ADL chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “This capitulates to the most extreme voices and rewards their disruptive conduct. The Emerson community deserves better. ADL calls upon the president of Emerson to reverse this decision and urges the Suffolk District Attorney to enforce the law.”
Pressure for granting protesters “amnesty” is building at the University Massachusetts Amherst, where the student government recently passed a resolution condemning the school for requesting police assistance in demonstrations there, an action which resulted in over 50 arrests. The student government is also demanding the university adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, a measure which could purge Jews and Zionists from the American academy, experts have told The Algemeiner.
Emerson College is not the first school to excuse the behavior of pro-Hamas protesters.
The University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside) has made major concessions to anti-Israel protesters in exchange for the termination of their anti-Zionist demonstrations on campus, continuing a gradual normalization of the BDS movement against Israel.
Details of the settlement were disclosed by the university on Friday. It includes shuttering UC Riverside School of Business “global programs” in Israel — as well as the US, Brazil, Jordan, Egypt, Vietnam, China, and Cuba — appointing potentially anti-Zionist students to a task force on the university’s endowment, and exploring the possibility of banning Sabra Hummus, which is co-owned by the Israeli food manufacturer Strauss Group, from campus.
UC Riverside’s apparent capitulation followed a precedent set by Northwestern University last week, when the school announced the establishment of a new scholarship for Palestinian students and an investment committee in which anti-Zionists students and faculty may wield an outsized voice.
Brown University has also yielded to anti-Israel protesters, promising to hold a vote on divesting from companies linked to Israel.
Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington agreed to divest from companies linked to Israel, according to a “Memorandum of Understanding Between the Evergreen State College and the Evergreen Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” which the school posted on its website. Per the agreement, the school will issue a statement dictated by the protesters. The statement, a portion of which includes pro-Hamas propaganda, will “be reviewed by negotiators and a faculty representative before it is released.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ADL Blasts Emerson College for Bailing Out Pro-Hamas Protesters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
