Yom Kippur 2026/5787

Erev Yom Kippur, September 20th

6:00pm: Registration Table Open

Please visit the check-in table when you arrive to grab your pre-printed name tag! (If you joined us for Rosh Hashanah, please be sure to bring your name tag back!)

6:30pm: Traditional Kol Nidre Service

This service will begin with the playing of Kol Nidre on cello by Sofia Spiegel, followed by the lighting of holiday and yizkor/memorial candles, and the recitation of Kol Nidre (x3) followed by the traditional Ma'ariv/evening prayers. This mostly-Hebrew service features lots of singing (but no musical instruments after candle-lighting time), and will be led by Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, Rabbi Jonah Steinberg, and Deb Arnold. Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum will deliver a sermon.

6:30pm: Musical & Contemplative

Our alternative Kol Nidre service will be led by Rabbi Jay LeVine with Kohenet Traci Marx, offering a reflective and musical journey into Yom Kippur's themes of life, death, aspiration, and forgiveness.

Yom Kippur, September 21st

8:30am - 12:45pm: Registration Table Open

Please visit the check-in table when you arrive to grab your pre-printed name tag and to pick up a schedule, map, and other materials (If you joined us for Rosh Hashanah, please be sure to bring your name tag back!)

9:00am - 9:50am: Morning Yoga

Nicki Sadow-Hasenberg, Kavana partner and certified yoga teacher, will lead an all-levels yoga class. We will spend 50 minutes together bringing awareness to body, mind, breath, and heart, renewing, and resting. All are welcome!

9:00am - 9:50am: Text Study “Fifteen Shocking Words on Prayer”

Join Rabbi Jonah Steinberg for a morning text study. We will look together at a page of our Yom Kippur liturgy alongside a very brief teaching from a deeply devout rabbi of the mid-18th century whose words practically explode a traditional concept of prayer—and then we will see if we can put the pieces together in our own hearts and minds, and in our personal, communal, and devotional practice on this holy day.

9:00am - 11:00am: Yom Kippur Family Service & Programs

Join Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum from 9:00-9:50 for a meaningful and energetic prayer service designed to cover the "greatest hits" of the Yom Kippur liturgy for Kavana youth and their accompanying adults.

Following the service, Director of Education Rachel 'RLO' Osias and a team of Kavana teaching staff will lead an additional hour of interactive, theme-based activities for families. Youth will be divided into three learning cohorts: preschoolers, early elementary (K-2) and older elementary (3-5) children. Hands on arts & crafts meets prayer study and discussion!

10:00am - 2:30pm: Traditional Service

This service begins with Kavana’s special Pesukei D'zimra/"dawn chanting" -- beautiful melodies to ease us into the day. We will continue with a full Shacharit/Morning Service for Yom Kippur, and the Torah service & Yizkor/memorial prayers (~11:15-12:45). Musaf on Yom Kippur features the traditional elements of Avodah (the service of the High Priest) and Martyrology. This service will be led by Tziporah Santowitz, Anna Boiko-Weyrauch, Rabbi Jonah Steinberg, and Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, and will feature lots of community participation in the Torah service and communal singing throughout.

10:30am - 1:30pm: Musical and Contemplative Service

Led by Kohenet Traci Marx and accompanying musicians, this service offers collective reflection, atoning, and prayer in a loving container. We will lean into key prayers of the morning service and the Yom Kippur liturgy and explore the themes of Yom Kippur morefreely, with readings and songs in English. This service is crafted to be accessible to people with a wide range of comfort levels with Hebrew and with the Yom Kippur service, from no knowledge to fluency. This space aims to be feminist, counter-oppressive, inclusive, accessible, and welcoming. Rooted in love, we dedicate this time to drop into a deep return to the self, to the Divine, and to our interconnectedness with all of life, that we and our world may be renewed in this new year. *Please note that this service will include an abbreviated Torah service.

10:30am - 11:30am: Meditation

Settle in for some soul-learning with Rabbi Jay LeVine. We will begin with a lightly guided breathing meditation. After we’ve settled into our bodies and let our minds contribute, we will deepen into meditative silence, followed by a guided metta (loving-kindness) practice. No meditation experience necessary, just willingness to sit and breathe. You are welcome to leave early or arrive late, as long as you do so quietly.

11:15am - 12:15pm: High Holidays Unpacked: A Text Study for Middle Schoolers

Join Kavana educators for an engaging, hands-on text study to explore the deeper meanings of the Jewish High Holidays. Using group discussions, thought-provoking questions, and interactive activities, we’ll discover how these holiest-of-holy days connect to our lives today. Join us and be ready to think, learn, and build community.

11:15am - 12:15pm: High Holidays Unpacked: A Text Study for High Schoolers

1:00pm - 1:50pm: Gates of Grief

Join Kavana partner Sondra Kornblatt and Rabbi Jay in a guided process to open our hearts to different aspects of grief. We'll start with a reflection on the six gates of grief--including personal, political, environmental, and inner losses. Then Sondra will guide a somatic process to gently touch and release pain while remembering our resources. The intent is to honor the sacred ways grief touches our lives as we come together for Yom Kippur. Please note that this is a guided process and not a sharing space.

2:00pm - 3:00pm: Musical and Contemplative Yizkor

Led by Kohenet Traci Marx, all are welcome for this ritual gathering for collective remembering.Whether or not your parents are living, you are welcome. Through loving song, poetry, and prayer, English and Hebrew, we will remember and honor our loved ones who are no longer here in body and those who came before us.

3:00pm - 3:50pm: Art Integration

Return to your creative soul with a mid-day art exploration. No art experience or expertise required. Willingness to be spiritually playful is recommended.

4:00pm - 5:00pm: Book of Jonah Discussion

Each year, we return to our old friend Jonah and, as we read his story closely, wonder aloud about points of connection between his story and our lives today. All ages, backgrounds, and perspectives are welcome, as we dig into this text-study together.

5:15pm - 6:45pm: Combatants for Peace

On this holy day of reflection, we have the opportunity to hear from several inspirational Israeli and Palestinian activists, who will share how they are organizing together amid daily violence, occupation, and profound power asymmetry to forge a path toward collective liberation. Their talk -- titled "The Moment to Move" -- invites participants to transcend borders and lines of division, not only to co-imagine a future worthy of all people, but to discern how we can act together to build it, now. In addition to sharing their personal stories, they will also engage in candid discussion with one another and field questions from our community.

7:00pm - 7:50pm Neilah

Neilah marks the "closing of the gates" and the conclusion of our Yom Kippur day together. Led by Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum and Rabbi Jay LeVine, we will join together as a single Kavana community again for this final recitation of the Yom Kippur liturgy. The service concludes with a final shofar blast and a quick Havdalah ceremony, before the whole community is invited to join together in a break-the-fast meal.

7:55pm: Break Fast

We’ll be providing delicious and quick grab-and-go style snacks to help our community break the fast at the end of this rich and soulful day.