High Holidays

The High Holidays are approaching, and we invite you to celebrate with Kavana.  (We mean us, the Kavana community.  But the word "kavana" also means intentionality/mindfulness/a sense of purpose - and we invite you to celebrate the new year with that orientation as well.)

In line with our values of being a cooperative, having a diverse community, and wanting to create a deep and meaningful experience, Kavana will offer a variety of High Holiday services and programs.

As in past years, our prayer services will be led by Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum and our rabbinic guest star, Rabbi Jonah Steinberg (visiting us from Hebrew College in Boston, for the fourth year running!)  The services are both deeply rooted in tradition and user-friendly, even for those who don't feel themselves to be so steeped in Jewish tradition.  Our services follow traditional structures and contain a lot of Hebrew praying and chanting, but there is also space created within them for individual meditation, personal reflection, and community discussion about the Torah readings.  Note that we rely on community members to chant Torah and Haftorah, to do readings in English, and lead discussions or other activities (hikes, yoga, etc.)  If you're interested, let us know!

We also hold family programs on the first morning of Rosh HaShanah and on Yom Kippur morning.  These programs are designed for parents and children (ages 2-11) to participate together as a family.  Our leaders and teachers will include Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, Shannon Cruzen, Sarah Adams and Maxine Alloway.  We love that there are so many families participating, and because of our great success last year, we are now going to have two (count 'em two!) simultanous family programs: one for ages 2-6, and the other for kids 7-11.  Each group will do two things: (a) age-appropriate discussion and hands-on activities to explore the themes of the holiday, and (b) an age-appropriate prayer service.  (Note that there's flexibility here - if a family has both older and younger kids but wants to stick together, we'll leave it to you to figure out which program is the best fit.  If a nine year-old wants to go the program without his or her parents, that's fine with us.)

We also have a complement of other events and programs - and everyone is welcome.  If services aren't your thing, but you want community and meaning during the High Holidays, you might consider a community dinner on the first night of Rosh HaShanah, Taschlich on the afternoon of Rosh HaShanah, a tisch or a hike in the week between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, a discussion of the book of Jonah on the afternoon of Yom Kippur, a break fast after Yom Kippur, etc.

Who is this for?  If you're looking for community and meaning, this is the place for you!  Of course, we look forward to seeing our Kavana partners.  (Last year, many of you asked whether you could bring  family and friends, and the answer is a definite yes.)  For those who are not Kavana partners, but are interested in being part of this community on an ongoing basis, we're excited to have you participate as well!  (One word of caution:  we love welcoming newcomers, but know that the High Holidays are hectic, crowded, and not always the most conducive to getting to know new people.  So, please join us for the holidays, but also consider checking out the more intimate events of our regular programming year.)  

A note about volunteering - we're a cooperative, we consider everyone a volunteer, and we will need everyone's help to make our High Holiday programming happen.  Please let us know how you'd like to help when you fill out the registration form.   (i.e. you can help set up the sanctuary, clean up after family programs, cook for the break fast, etc.)

Also note that we will are doing a food drive for the Jewish Family Service Food Bank.  Please bring your donations to any Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur programs.

Here is more information about our High Holiday programs & schedule.

Here is more information about costs, payment & registration.  (We require you to both register and pay in advance.  Seriously.)

Questions?  Please contact us!