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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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A pro-Israel rally at the University of Toronto was headlined by Columbia University professor Shai Davidai
Around 200 people gathered for a pro-Israel demonstration at University of Toronto’s downtown campus at King’s College Circle—which was the site of one of Canada’s largest pro-Palestinian encampments during May […]
The post A pro-Israel rally at the University of Toronto was headlined by Columbia University professor Shai Davidai appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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‘Not Welcome’: New Pro-Hamas Campaign Aims to Abolish Hillel Campus Chapters
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
The campus group National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) is waging a campaign to gut Jewish life in academia, calling for the abolition of Hillel International campus chapters, the largest collegiate organization for Jewish students in the world.
“Over the past several decades, Hillel has monopolized for Jewish campus life into a pipeline for pro-Israel indoctrination, genocide-apologia, and material support to the Zionist project and its crimes,” a social media account operating the campaign, titled #DropHillel, said in a manifesto published last week. “Across the country, Hillel chapters have invited Israeli soldiers to their campuses; promoted propaganda trips such as birthright; and organized charity drives for the Israeli military.”
It continued, “Such actions reveal Hillel’s ideological and material investment in Zionism, despite the organization’s facade as being simply a ‘Jewish cultural space.’”
DropHillel claims to be “Jewish-led,” although only a small minority of Jews oppose Zionism, and the group has been linked to and promoted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters.
Hillel International has provided Jewish students a home away from home during the academic year. However, NSJP says it wants to “weaken” it and “dismantle oppression.”
The idea has already been picked up by pro-Hamas student groups at one college, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to The Daily Tar Heel, the school’s official student newspaper. On Oct. 9, it reported, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) unveiled the idea for “no more Hillel” during a rally which, among other things, demanded removing Israel from UNC’s study abroad program and adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Addressing the comments to the paper days later, SJP, which has been linked to Islamist terrorist organizations, proclaimed that shuttering Hillel is a coveted goal of the anti-Zionist movement.
“Zionism is a racist supremacist ideology advocating for the creation and sustenance of an ethnostate through the expulsion and annihilation of native people,” the group told the paper. “Therefore, any group that advocates for a supremacist ideology — be it the KKK, the Proud Boys, Hillel, or Heels for Israel — should not be welcome on campus.”
The #DropHillel campaign came amid an unprecedented surge in anti-Israel incidents on college campuses, which, according to a report published last month by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), have reached crisis levels.
Revealing a “staggering” 477 percent increase in anti-Zionist activity involving assault, vandalism, and other phenomena, the report — titled “Anti-Israel Activism on US Campuses, 2023-2024” — painted a bleak picture of America’s higher education system poisoned by political extremism and hate.
“As the year progressed, Jewish students and Jewish groups on campus came under unrelenting scrutiny for any association, actual or perceived, with Israel or Zionism,” the report said. “This often led to the harassment of Jewish members of campus communities and vandalism of Jewish institutions. In some cases, it led to assault. These developments were underpinned by a steady stream of rhetoric from anti-Israel activists expressing explicit support for US-designated terrorists organizations, such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and others.”
The report added that 10 campuses accounted for 16 percent of all incidents tracked by ADL researchers, with Columbia University and the University of Michigan combining for 90 anti-Israel incidents — 52 and 38, respectively. Harvard University, the University of California – Los Angeles, Rutgers University New Brunswick, Stanford University, Cornell University, and others filled out the rest of the top 10. Violence, it continued, was most common at universities in the state of California, where anti-Zionist activists punched a Jewish student for filming him at a protest.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Not Welcome’: New Pro-Hamas Campaign Aims to Abolish Hillel Campus Chapters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Muslim for Trump’ Launches Initiatives in Key Battleground States, Says Candidate Will Bring ‘Peace’ to Gaza
Former US President Donald Trump is seen at a campaign event in South Carolina. Photo: Reuters/Sam Wolfe
The “Muslims for Trump” organization has officially launched initiatives to help elect Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to the White House, arguing that he would be more likely to end the war in Gaza than Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
In a statement released on Monday, the group said it will focus on recruiting Muslim voters in key battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina. The organization both praised Trump for his supposed “peace-focused” approach to ending the war in Gaza and condemned Harris for helping facilitate a so-called “genocide.”
“After meeting with President Trump, it was clear to me he is the right leader for Muslims to get behind,” Rabiul Chowdhury, co-founder of Muslims for Trump and former co-chair of the “Abandon Harris Movement,” said in a statement.
Chowdhury added that during his discussions with Trump, the former president vowed to “ending the escalation of wars and bringing peace to war-torn regions.” In contrast to Trump’s promise to stop the “bloodshed” in Gaza, he claimed, Harris has “recklessly pushed us toward World War III.”
Chowdhury, a self-described “peace advocate,” urged the Muslim community not to fall victim to supposed “misinformation” campaigns by the media and Democrats that paint the former president as hostile to immigrants. He claimed that the former president’s focus is on “ending war, not dividing families through false immigration claims.”
Samra Luqman, chair of the Michigan chapter of Muslims for Trump, underscored the need to punish the Biden administration for what he described as supporting a “genocide” in Gaza.
“The goal of this election is to hold the Biden administration accountable for a genocide. No amount of fear mongering or scare tactics will persuade my community into forgiving the mutilation, live-burning, and genocide of over 200,000 people,” he said.
According to data produced by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, roughly 40,000 people have died in Gaza since the war began last October. Israel has said that its forces have killed about 20,000 Hamas terrorists during its military campaign.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication.
On the organization Muslims for Trump’s official website, it claims that the Abraham Accords, a series of historic, Trump administration-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several countries in the Arab world, helped stabilize the Middle East. It also says that had Trump not lost the 2020 presidential race, the so-called “genocide” could have been prevented.
“Under Trump’s leadership, the Abraham Accords were brokered, fostering peaceful relations between Israel and several Arab countries. Supporters might argue that Trump’s diplomacy prioritized peace and stability in the Middle East, reducing the likelihood of large-scale conflicts like genocide,” the group wrote.
Over the course of his campaign, Trump has repeatedly touted his support for the Jewish state during his singular term in office. Trump has boasted about his administration’s work in fostering the Abraham Accords, promising to resume efforts to strengthen them if he were to win November’s US presidential election.
Harsh US sanctions levied on Iran under Trump crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.
Trump also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a strategic region on Israel’s northern border previously controlled by Syria, and also moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing the city as the Jewish state’s capital.
Despite Harris’s repeated efforts to woo Muslim voters, polling data indicates that the demographic has made a dramatic swing away from the Democratic Party. Polling data from the Arab American Institute reveals that Trump slightly edges Harris among Muslim voters by a margin of 42 to 41 percent. A report from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) shows that Green Party candidate Jill Stein leads Harris and Trump with Muslim voters in the key swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona.
The post ‘Muslim for Trump’ Launches Initiatives in Key Battleground States, Says Candidate Will Bring ‘Peace’ to Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.