Celebrate the High Holidays With Us!
Join us for reflection, prayer, community, and conversation over the High Holy Days. Our services are creative, while still grounded in Jewish tradition. Check out our What to Expect page to learn more.
In-Person and Online Services
All of our services are held in person. With the exception of children's and teen services and discussions, all of our services are also offered online. This year, registration for our services, programs and meals is required.
For those who wish to participate virtually, we will send a Zoom link to guests who register more than one business day in advance. We may not be able to respond to registrations made during the holidays, so be sure to register in advance in order to receive the Zoom link.
Welcome from Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman
What a difficult year it’s been. Every time I read the news or scroll through social media I’m reminded of how broken our country feels. Injustice is everywhere—immigrant families are being ripped apart. Universities have become battlegrounds. Respect for the rule of law has evaporated. Racism, antisemitism, misogyny, and homophobia have escalated. On a personal level, many of us have struggled with loss, burnout, loneliness, and fear. It’s a lot to hold in these precarious times.
As the High Holy Days approach, they call on us to slow down, to reflect, and to do teshuvah. We return to our best selves. We take stock of where we have been and where we hope to go. We recommit to our deepest values. And we ask ourselves: What do we really care about? What kind of world do we want to create for the future?
In these challenging times, we are at risk of getting so overwhelmed that we shut down and avoid the world around us. It is tempting to tend only to our own gardens, but Jewish tradition forces us not to look away. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once wrote, “The opposite of good is not evil, but indifference.”
We use the High Holy Days not as an escape or a distraction but as a space to recenter ourselves and to reconnect with each other. They call on us to care, to refuse indifference. At a time of division and despair, joining together for High Holiday services, meals, and discussions is essential. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur remind us that we are a community. We need each other for comfort and encouragement. We need to hold each other to our deepest values.
May this next year be a time of resilience, of courage, and of recommitting ourselves to justice.
If you are new to our community or just visiting, welcome. We invite you to get involved: attend a service, join us for a meal, check out a havurah (fellowship group), or celebrate a holiday with us. We hope that you will make Shaarei Shamayim your home.
Wishing you a shanah tovah -- a sweet, healthy, and meaningful new year.
Rabbi Laurie