High Holy Days 5785
L’shana tova u’metuka! May you be written into the Book of Life for a good and sweet new year!
We are looking forward to seeing everyone for the High Holy Days this year! For most of our services, there will be two options for participation: indoors in our Sanctuary or online. Registration is required for both options.
- All members and guests must register to attend services. For capacity reasons, we ask that you only register for services you are certain you will be attending.
- If you are not a member of NVHC, please contact Joe Miller (joe@nvhcreston.org, 703-437-7733) for registration information.
- We will not be mailing paper tickets; instead, we will be checking everyone in at the door. Registration is required for entry.
- All services will be in person and streamed online with the exception of our Young Family services and Shofar & Tashlich service, which will not be streamed.
- While we do have a limited number of loaner prayerbooks, we assume our families have their own copies of Mishkan HaNafesh (our High Holy Day prayerbooks). We encourage you to order a set at the link in the side bar if you do not yet have yours.
If you will be visiting NVHC for the High Holy Days and are a member of another Reform congregation in good standing, click here to download and complete the URJ’s Reciprocal Seating Form. Please send your form to Mozelle Stanton at mozelle@nvhcreston.org or 1441 Wiehle Ave, Reston VA 20190.
Scroll down to view the schedule for each holiday.
Elul
The Hebrew month of Elul is the last month of the liturgical year; the last month before the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. During this month, we can take time to prepare ourselves for those holidays. We can reflect about our process of teshuvah, the returning, renewing, and repenting that we each need to do for the past year in preparation for the coming year. We can take this month to review our actions, our lives, and engage in what our tradition calls cheshbon hanefesh – an accounting of the soul. We strive to elevate the spirituality in our lives, acknowledging our shortcomings and fragility, and apologizing to those we have wronged, including ourselves. We do all of this to grow as people and ready ourselves for the High Holy Days.
At NVHC, each year we come up with a new paradigm through which we journey through Elul with videos, discussion questions, text study, and more. Our journey this year focuses on the shofar. We will send videos from our clergy throughout the month telling a different story from Torah, Talmud, and other places about the shofar, along with their own thoughts about the story, a question to reflect on, and a source sheet for you to refer back to. We hope these videos are inspiring and helpful as you move along your own path of cheshbon hanefesh.
These videos will be sent via email and posted here beginning September 3.
High Holy Day Melodies
The uniqueness and awe of these sacred days are echoed in special sounds and melodies that we hear once a year. For either a little review, anticipatory listening or first-time learning, please click below to listen to some of these special High Holy Day melodies.
S’lichot Dinner & Service
Saturday, September 28
Dinner – 6:00pm, Service – 7:00pm
S’lichot, meaning “forgiveness,” is the first service of the High Holy Day season. Typically observed the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah, it marks the first time we read communal prayers of repentance and forgiveness for the coming year.
Last year, we introduced the ritual of rolling our Torah scroll book by book to set it for the Rosh Hashanah Torah reading. We return to that ritual this year, pausing as we get to each book to hear part of the book being chanted and to reflect on a question unique to each book.
Join us for dinner followed by this meaningful, soul-filled service to help in our spiritual preparations.
The cost for dinner is $20 per person and reservations are required. Click here to register!
Rosh Hashanah
Wednesday, October 2
8:00pm – Erev Rosh Hashanah Service – In Sanctuary and online
Thursday, October 3
9:00am – Young Family Service (suggested through 2nd grade) – In person in the Tent
10:30am – Morning Service – In Sanctuary and online
*This service will offer a companion Mini-Machzor and programming experience for grades 3-6. More information below and in the Glance.
3:30pm – Shofar and Tashlich Service – In person at Lake Fairfax Park
Yom Kippur
Friday, October 11
8:00pm – Kol Nidre – In Sanctuary and online
Saturday, October 12
9:00am – Young Family Service (suggested through 2nd grade) – In person in the Tent
10:30am – Morning Service – In Sanctuary and online
*This service will offer a companion Mini-Machzor and programming experience for grades 3-6. More information below and in the Glance.
1:45pm – Afternoon Study – In Sanctuary and online
3:30pm – Afternoon Service – In Sanctuary and online
5:00pm – Yizkor – In Sanctuary and online
6:00pm – Neilah – In Sanctuary and online
We Need Your Help!
Support NVHC’s Annual High Holy Day Food Drive!
Our neighbors need our help! Again this year during the High Holy Days, we will be collecting non-perishable food and toiletries for the Cornerstones Emergency Food Pantry. Click here to see what items they need. Remember that low sodium, low fat, sugar free, and organic items are appreciated for their clients with dietary concerns.
Grab a grocery bag (or several!) on Rosh Hashanah, fill it with food, and then drop it off inside the lobby at NVHC any time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Thank you for helping our neighbors in need!
Experiences for Older Kids
Students in grades 3– 6 are invited to join the main service in person. We will provide a meaningful companion Mini-Machzor which follows the course of the liturgy in Mishkan HaNefesh but includes stories, poems, and questions for students’ own reflection. Both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur morning services will also offer hands-on holiday projects for students during the service.
