High Holidays 2022
Join Kahal B'raira to reflect on the past year and celebrate the new one!
Services will take place at First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington.
Registration is required for in-person attendance and to receive Zoom links. Register here!
Schedule
Rosh Hashanah - Sunday, September 25 & Monday, September 26
Rosh Hashanah Evening Service: Sun. 9/25, 7:30pm - Hybrid
Bring in the new year with this joyous and music filled service! Our humanistic liturgy and our member reflection will make it a meaningful experience. If you have a long Jewish tradition you will find our service to be a refreshing alternative. If you are new to Jewish tradition, you will find this service very accessible.
Family Friendly Morning Service: Mon. 9/26, 10:00am - Hybrid
Celebrate Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year! This short and sweet service, lasting about an hour, is appropriate for both kids and adults.
Yom Kippur - Tuesday, October 4 & Wednesday, October 5
Kol Nidre: Tue. 10/4, 7:30pm - Hybrid
A time to reflect and begin again for a new year. Our service will be filled with music including the ancient song Kol Nidre, which is chanted and played as an instrumental piece. Our humanistic liturgy and thoughtful speaker at each service make it a deeply meaningful experience. There will be an opportunity to acknowledge yartzeits (memorials).
Family Friendly Morning Service: Wed. 10/5, 10:00am - Hybrid
Yom Kippur – We reflect on the year past and the year ahead. This service is family friendly but speaks to people of all ages.
Midday Service: Wed. 10/5, 12:00pm - Hybrid
Join us for thoughtful humanist liturgy that echoes traditional liturgy. We will sing niggunim (wordless melodies) that are easy to sing along and set the contemplative tone. A member will speak on a holiday theme, followed by discussion with the congregation.
Closing & Break Fast: Wed. 10/5, 5:00pm - Zoom only
This will be a brief closing service to remind us of the themes of the holiday and to hear a last blast of the shofar before we break-fast and conclude this special day.
Covid Information
Masking
Attendees age 2 and older required to wear high-filtration masks (N95, KN95, KF94) while indoors. We will have a few extra masks at the door in case you forget yours. To facilitate lip reading, some of the service reader will take off their masks while at the mic. Readers who unmask will be required to test negative the day of the service.
Vaccination
Everyone age 5 and older is required to be vaccinated.
Capacity Limits & Ventilation
The capacity of the church sanctuary is 400 people. In order to avoid crowding, we are limiting in-person attendance to 300 people. There will be one or two air purifiers near the podium.
Testing
We strongly encourage everyone to rapid test before coming to services. Most insurance companies are required to reimburse for up to 8 rapid tests per month. If you test positive or if you have symptoms, please stay home and join us on the livestream. We’ll miss you and appreciate your thoughtfulness.
Accessibility
There are no stairs to enter or to speak in the sanctuary or larger meeting space generally used for coffee following the service. Seating in the sanctuary is individual and may be moved to accommodate specific needs or mobilities. Westerly doors are equipped with an open button to open doors electronically. All ramps and stairways inside or outside the building are equipped with railings.
All bathrooms are wheelchair accessible and gender neutral.
There are three dedicated accessible parking spaces, one of which is suitable for van access.
Some of our service leaders will be masked and others will be unmasked. For folks who lip read or otherwise benefit from leaders being unmasked, please be in touch with Lidia to discuss the best way to provide accommodations.
If you have any questions about accessibility, please reach out to Lidia at l.pruente@kahalbraira.org.
Yizkor – Memorial
On Yom Kippur, at the Kol Nidre service on October 4, we will honor the memory of departed loved ones by sharing their names. Because of covid safety concerns, we will not pass the mic around. Instead, names will be read aloud by the service leaders. If you would like your loved one's name to be read aloud during the service, please list them here.