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No synagogue membership? No problem at these High Holiday events in NYC

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Rosh Hashanah begins this year on the evening of Sunday, September 25th. Yom Kippur begins on the evening of October 4th. (Illustration by Alona Stanova, Burocx. Design by Mollie Suss)
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Editors’ note: This story will be updated throughout Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. 

(New York Jewish Week) — Back to school and the increasing variety of apples at the farmer’s market means the start of fall and the start of a brand new year.

Rosh Hashanah, which starts the evening of Sunday, Sept. 25, is nearly here, and in this third year of COVID, everyone has different wants and needs for this year’s High Holidays. Whether you’ve had a recent booster shot and feel safe to join your community in person, or whether you want to find an outdoor or virtual service — or whether you’ve never been to a High Holidays service at all — there are myriad options in this great city of ours.

The New York Jewish Week has rounded up several options for High Holiday services at different price points across the boroughs — from traditional synagogue experiences to more creative interpretations of the holidays and their liturgy. (Most services are held both on Monday and Tuesday, except where noted below.)

If none of these catches your eye, the UJA-Federation of New York has set up a portal to find even more services in each borough. (UJA-Federation is a funder of 70 Faces Media, the New York Jewish Week’s parent company.) However you decide to celebrate the arrival of 5783, the following list offers exciting options for the start of a healthy and sweet new year.

Traditional services

Temple Emanu-El (Reform)

In person and livestream

This year, Temple Emanu-El is holding traditional, in-person services in its Fifth Avenue sanctuary for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Israel Consul General Asaf Zamir is slated to speak on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Other highlights include a young families’ service on the rooftop of the synagogue and tashlich, the symbolic casting off of sins, in Central Park. For the second year in a row, the young families’ service will be at SummerStage in Central Park on Yom Kippur. Check out the full schedule here. Young families can purchase a ticket pack for $500 per family, which includes multiple Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services; young professionals (ages 22 to 30) can purchase tickets for $36 per service to attend Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur formal services. Livestream all services for free on Facebook and YouTube. More information here.

Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (Unaffiliated)

In person and livestream

Congregation Beit Simchat Torah is an LGBTQ+ and progressive synagogue hosting both in person and livestreamed services this year at Masonic Hall at 46 West 24th St. There are also services for families with young children. People of all gender identities and sexual orientations are welcomed at CBST. Register in advance to get tickets (open to the public) to the free service here. Free.

Congregation Beth Elohim (Reform)

In person and livestream

Congregation Beth Elohim will offer a range of services at several different locations in Brooklyn. Traditional services, led by Rabbi Rachel Timoner and Rabbi Stephanie Kolin, will be held in the CBE sanctuary in Park Slope for members only. However, there is also an open-to-the-public “Brooklyn Jews” service, aimed towards adults in their 20s and 30s, at Union Temple House of CBE at 17 Eastern Parkway. Youth and family services will be held at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, free and open to the public. A tashlich service in Prospect Park open to the public. Find more information here. Tickets for the Brooklyn Jews service are $54 per individual service or $144 for an all-access pass.

CBE is also hosting free Sephardic Egalitarian services in the rotunda at the synagogue’s main location in Park Slope (274 Garfield Place). The service centers “Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, Indigenous Jews, and Jews of Color.” Kol Nidre and Neilah will be led by Laura Elkeslassy, one of New York Jewish Week’s “36 to Watch” in 2022. Reserve a spot here. Free.

Bronx Jewish Center (Chabad)

In person

The Chabad-affiliated Bronx Jewish Center is hosting Rosh Hashanah at their brand-new location at 900 Pelham Parkway. Sunday evening services will be followed by a four-course dinner, and Rosh Hashanah morning services will be followed by lunch. There will also be a children’s program. No tickets are required, but guests must RSVP in advance. Free.

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue (Reform)

In person and livestream

Though the main High Holiday services at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue (30 West 68th St.) are for members only, the congregation is also hosting services aimed at Israelis in New York and their families. “Chofshi B’Manhattan” services are conducted completely in Hebrew; they will take place in the synagogue’s social hall on Erev Rosh Hashanah, the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre and in the afternoon of Yom Kippur. Details and registration here. Adult tickets are $36 for one service or $65 for two or more. Children 2 to 17 are $18 and under 2 are free, as are college and graduate students. The main service will be livestreaming for free.

Hebrew Tabernacle (Progressive and Reform)

In person and Zoom 

The Hebrew Tabernacle in Washington Heights (551 Fort Washington Ave) is hosting free services open to the public both in person and on Zoom. The services are led by Rabbi Paula Feldstein and there are separate services for families with toddlers and for families with school children. The congregation embraces diversity, with “single adults, single parents and interfaith, interracial and LGBTQ families, worshiping alongside intergenerational European survivor and refugee families.” The services and congregation champion social action on climate justice, reproductive and immigrant rights and voting rights, according to board secretary Desma Holcomb. Reserve your spot here. Free.

Beyond the synagogue

Ohel Ayalah (Traditional and Egalitarian)

Virtual

Ohel Ayalah normally offers free, pop-up walk-in High Holiday services held at Prince George Ballroom, 15 East 27th St., specifically aimed at Jews in their 20s and 30s. This year, Ohel Ayalah is offering only virtual services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Each service will be abbreviated to 75 minutes and will “contain highlights of the traditional High Holiday prayers and melodies, along with the usual inspirational nuggets.” The services will be led by Rabbi Judith Hauptman and cantorial soloist Josh Gorfinkle. Registered guests will receive a Zoom link. Free.

JCC Harlem

In person

JCC Harlem, an outpost of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan at 318 W. 118th St., will be hosting laid-back, “come as you are” services on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur this year, accompanied by a number of classes and workshops. Services at JCC Harlem will be led by Rabbi Rachel Maimin, Rabbi Nikki DeBlosi and Rabbi Iggy Gurin-Malous. JCC Harlem will also hold tashlich and shofar-blowing at West Harlem Piers. For families with children 12 and under, there will be a “Rosh Hashanah Wine Down,” which will include hands-on holiday cooking in a mobile oven operated by Oyven; arts activities and a community service. Find more information here. Tickets are $36 per service and available to the public.

Sim Shalom Jazz High Holiday Services

In person and livestream

Sim Shalom, an online-only “universalist” synagogue, is holding in-person jazz services at The Bitter End (147 Bleecker St.) for the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur. Rabbi Steven Blane will be backed by a jazz quartet as he leads the group through the service. Tickets are $130 per service. Reserve here. For $149, guests will have access to a livestream of all the services.

Lab/Shul at Tribeca Performing Arts Center

In person and livestream

Lab/Shul, an experimental, God-optional synagogue dedicated to making Jewish tradition meaningful for a range of faiths and identities, will be hosting services at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (199 Chambers St.) on Erev Rosh Hashanah, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur. This year’s theme is “Shviti,” which Lab/Shul describes as an “ancient art of focused contemplation, giving us grounding tools, as individuals and a community, towards better balance, leaning into love, rising up for justice.” Tashlich will be at Rockefeller Park on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Find more information here. Tickets for non-members are $95 for a single service (general admission) and $325 for all four services. Reserved seats are $200 for one service and $750 for all services. Members receive a discount. Livestream is free with donations encouraged.

Kolot Chayeinu

In person and livestream

A progressive Brooklyn congregation dedicated to social justice and anti-racism, Kolot Chayeinu is hosting free in-person and livestreamed services this year at the Theater at City Tech (275 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY). Led by Rabbi Miriam Grossman and Cantor Lisa B. Segal, guests who are registered for the livestream will receive a virtual machzor ahead of time. Register to attend in person or on livestream here. Free, but donations are encouraged.

Find a Chabad Service or Outdoor Shofar Blowing

In person

Chabad, the Lubavitch Hasidic movement known for its outreach, is hosting a number of dinners and services across the country for the High Holidays this year. Most of the services are free and open to anyone with registration. Find a service near you in their search portal. Chabad also claims it pioneered the public outdoor shofar blast nearly seven decades ago, a practice many synagogues have shifted to during the pandemic. To find a shofar blast near you, check out their portal. Free.

Shofar Across Brooklyn

In person

In partnership with the UJA-Federation, more than 20 congregations will blow the shofar at 5:00 pm on the second day of Rosh Hashanah at different outdoor locations around Brooklyn. Find out which congregations are participating and where to hear the shofar blasts nearest you. Free and open to the public.

More alternative ways to celebrate

Less pray, more sway

Back for one night on Sunday night, Erev Rosh Hashanah, Sway Machinery will be performing their breakthrough album “Hidden Melodies Revealed.” The performance, which began in 2007, integrates Yiddish liturgical music into concert experiences. The band’s guitarist and vocalist Jeremiah Lockwood describes it as a “concert version of the holiday liturgy, reconfigured through the sounds of 21st century rock and international popular music and framed in an iconoclastic performance that integrated storytelling, experimental animation and an orientation towards pleasure and community.” The performance will be at the Brooklyn Bowl on Sept. 25. 

Brooklyn Bowl will also host Rosh Hashanah services on Sunday evening and the first day of Rosh Hashanah led by Rabbi Daniel Brenner. Lockwood will be the musical director. Tickets are $45 for admission to both the service and the concert. 

Host a food drive in your community

City Harvest, one of New York’s largest food rescue organizations, is running its High Holiday Kosher Food Drive. The organization encourages participants to set up food drive bins in their schools, synagogues and offices and promote them on social media to neighbors and friends throughout the month. On Oct. 10, contact City Harvest to schedule a pickup. The food drive is accepting “all types of kosher canned, non-perishable, sealed or packaged food are acceptable for collection” and is looking for “shelf-stable, kosher sources of protein, such as: tuna, salmon, sardines, peanut butter and beans.” Get started here.

Watch a film — or many

The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan is also hosting a free virtual “Forgive Me Film-a-thon” on Oct. 3-5 which is “designed for those who find it easier to reflect with thoughtful movies and treat movie theaters as temples.” They will be screening “Love & Stuff,” a 2020 documentary directed by Upper West Sider Judith Helfand, and “‘Til Kingdom Come,” Maya Zinshtein’s 2020 documentary about evangelical Christian support for Israel. Find more information here.

Get mystical in a Brooklyn warehouse

Temple of the Stranger, an “emerging alternative mystical community” based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is hosting a ““deconstructed High Holiday Experience” at House of Yes (8 Wyckoff Ave.). This very Brooklyn experience, open to people of any faith, will take place on Erev Rosh Hashanah and again on Yom Kippur, is described as “a night of immersive spiritual theater” that will “plunge you into deep heart space, cast you into radial ancestral time, and invite you into mystical encounter, anchoring you to your strong, tender, clear spirit as you enter the new year.” The evening will be led by Jericho Vincent, a self-described “spiritual entrepreneur” and writer who left the ultra-Orthodox community of their childhood.  Check here for more information. Tickets start at $42.

Participate in a Beach Cleanup 

Repair the Sea, which also goes by Tikkun Hayam, is a Jewish organization “committed to the protection and preservation of the Marine Environment.” The organization helps hundreds of Jewish communities and synagogues organize a “reverse tashlich” beach and waterfront clean ups on the Sunday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which this year is October 2nd. In New York, join Temple Beth Sholom or The Reform Temple of Forest Hills in Queens in their clean ups, or go to Repair the Sea’s website to find a community participating near you or to register a new community.

Try some sweet homemade desserts

Can’t make it to any in person events but still want to make it a sweet new year? Order some baked goods from one of these cottage food businesses to satisfy your sweet tooth, ease your baking stress and celebrate the New Year. Our colleagues at The Nosher have a host (get it?) of ideas for holiday entertaining, including 11 ways to make brisket, a recipe for a Greek-Jewish apple and honey milk pie, and much, much more.

 

Editors’ note: Are you hosting or do you know about other High Holiday experiences that are open to the public? Let us know — we’d love to consider adding them to the guide. Email us at editor@jewishweek.org. 

Want to know more about Rosh Hashanah 2022? Visit our partner My Jewish Learning for holiday info, free online Rosh Hashanah services, and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur candle-lighting times.

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