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Join Us for the High Holidays 2025/5786

Join us for the High Holidays!

Message from Rabbi David and CBE President Linda Minkoff

 Dear CBE Community, 

We are happy to welcome you to celebrate the High Holidays with our Jewish community at Congregation Beth Elohim. We are thrilled to once again kick off the new year with the theme that will bring us all together throughout 5786: Joyfully Jewish at CBE.

Perhaps we should say “Joyfully Jewish” despite all that we are going through today - as a Jewish community and as Americans. Joy – Simcha, serves as one of the secrets of Jewish survival and thriving against the odds. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught, “It is a great mitzvah to always be happy.”

Here at CBE, we take this mitzvah seriously and have a calendar and program full of joyful activities. We could talk about Brotherhood Breakfast with amazing “Scientist in the Synagogue” speakers, the Purim Megillah reading with dozens of readers, wine and cheese in the Sukkah, the Kosher Chinese dinner on Chanukkah, our amazing religious school or any of the many other events or programs this past year.

 Read more...

Let's get you to the right section of our busy page! 

This page contains all you need to know about our High Holidays 5786 programming for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. 

Schedule & Online Links to Prayer Books & Other Downloads

On computers, our schedule and other links can be found to the right.  On mobile devices, they can be found on the bottom of the page.    

Let's get you to the right section of our busy page!  Click on the topic(s) of interest!

Questions? Email our High Holidays Programming Chair, Maureen Parker, hhprogramming@bethelohim.org or contact our synagogue administrator, Miriam, at mbeithaharon@bethelohim.org or 978-263-3061.

Congregation Beth Elohim is committed to providing a welcoming community for all who want to observe and celebrate the high holidays and will not turn away anyone due to financial hardship. For inquiries about special arrangements, please contact our Synagogue Administrator, Miriam, at mbeitaharon@bethelohim.org.
 

Sign up for High Holiday Honors

The High Holidays are a special time for our community to come together.  During services, there are many different opportunities for community members to participate in honors on the bimah.  You may also choose to do an honor together with someone else.  The more members of our community that participate in honors, the more our services can truly represent CBE.  

Please sign up here to let us know when and what type of honor you would be interested in.  If you have any questions or need more information, please email Jess Rosenblatt at ritual@bethelohim.org.  

Thank you so much for participating in High Holiday services!

 

Adult Services:  Both In-Person and Streaming via Zoom

We are excited to welcome congregants and non-congregants to observe the High Holidays with the CBE community. L’shanah tovah u’metukah, our best wishes for a good and sweet and healthy year!

To accommodate all, we are offering both in-person and streaming via Zoom for our adult High Holiday services.  

►E-Ticketing for Congregants:

  • Congregants, with accounts in good standing, will receive a "ticket email" on or about September 9th that will serve as your family's High Holiday services ticket for the adult services in the sanctuary. This ticket email will be sent to the adult family members to the email address that we have in our member directory. The ticket email will be issued from the Congregation Beth Elohim email address:  cbe_main@bethelohim.org.  
  • The ticket email will also include the Zoom link and password for Zoom services in the event that you will attend all or some services via Zoom.
  • We will re-issue this ticket email on or about September 21 and September 30, just prior to each holiday.
  • For security purposes, please do not forward your ticket email to others.

If you have any questions regarding your account, you may contact our financial secretaries, Kathie Becker and Alan Berko, at financialsecretary@bethelohim.org. If you do not receive your ticket by  September 11th and you have checked your spam/ junk folder and have confirmed no issue with your CBE account balance, please contact Gary Budiansky at websupport@bethelohim.org.

 

E-Ticketing for Non-Congregants and Associate Congregants

 

► Associate Congregants, Family members of congregants/other non-congregants (in-person services)

  • Associate congregants: $75 per ticket.

  • Non-congregant family members of congregants:  $75 per ticket. 

  • Other non-congregants: $350 per adult over college age and $75 per child in grade 7 through college age. Younger children are invited to attend our children's programming.  

Purchase Associate Congregant and Non-congregant adult in-person tickets HERE Upon registration you will receive a confirmation email that will serve as your e-ticket for our in person services. The ticket email will also include the Zoom link and password for Zoom services in the event that you will attend some services via Zoom.  For security purposes, please do not forward the ticket email to others not included in your ticket purchase.

► Prospective members

The High Holidays are the perfect time for prospective new members to join our CBE community!   If you are considering joining CBE and would like to attend High Holiday services for the first time, please email  membership@bethelohim.org.

We will be happy to offer you tickets for a reduced donation amount that will be deducted from your annual membership dues if you join CBE this year. Our membership chairs can tell you more about our active community and reduced fees for new members.  

If you have children, we are happy to have the children of prospective members attend our children's programming. Please find the link to pre-register and pay the children's programming fee BELOW.

 

► Reciprocal Tickets

 

No-cost reciprocal tickets are available to family members of congregants or to associate members who belong to a synagogue outside of our area. Please request these tickets from our synagogue administrator, Miriam, at mbeitaharon@bethelohim.org or 978-263-3061. We ask that you provide Miriam with proof of membership in good standing from their synagogue.

 

"ZOOM SERVICES ONLY" Sign-Up (non-congregants)

 

 

 

Childcare and Children's Programming

Programming for children 3 months to grade 6

 

Sign-up using the High Holidays Children's Registration Form by Thursday, September 18 or by Thursday, September 25 if only registering for Yom Kippur morning.

Please be sure to let us know, on the sign up form, if your child has any food allergies or needs any accommodations.  You may email Maureen Parker at HHprogramming@bethelohim.org if you have questions or want to provide further information.

For $18 per child with a $36 maximum per family, we are happy to offer 
  • Childcare on the two days of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur morning from 9:30 AM until the end of adult services for children ages 3 months to Pre-K. 
  • Children's services and programming for students in grades K through 6 on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur morning. There is no K to 6 programming on Rosh Hashanah day 2 morning.

For students in grades 8 to 12, there are a limited number of volunteer opportunities to assist with children's programming. Find more information below and Sign up HERE to volunteer.

 

Rosh Hashanah Community Luncheon at Mt Calvary Church (Tuesday, September 23 at the end of adult services)

We encourage you to sign up for our Rosh Hashanah Community Lunch by the sign-up deadline of Sunday, September 21 at 12:00 PM. We cannot accept reservations after that date or walkins on that day.

This will be a beautiful opportunity to relax, socialize, greet old friends, and meet new people. 

We will offer a nut-free dairy meal with gluten free options, prepared by our own Barbara Frank Michaelson, in keeping with our food policies.  We will serve a variety of bagels with fixings, salads, egg salad, kugel, and desserts. 

Lunch is at Mt. Calvary Church, 472 Massachusetts Ave, at the corner of Mass Ave and Prospect St. It is 0.3 miles (7 min walk) from CBE. Thank you to our partners at Mt. Calvary Church for graciously allowing us to use their space as we ring in the new year!

Please pre-register here by our deadline of Sunday, September 21st at 12:00 noon 

Cost is $18 per person age 13 and older and $10 per child ages 12 and under, with a family maximum of $46. 

 

High Holiday Appeal

CBE's High Holiday Appeal is under way!  Everyone's generous contributions to our annual appeal enable us to express our joy and pride in being a diverse community of Jews in so many ways. Across CBE, the common thread is our being members of an active Jewish community that welcomes all and continues to provide a wide variety of engaging programs to meet the needs and interests of our unique membership.

Your High Holiday contribution, large or small, will help ensure that CBE will always be here to celebrate and support you and your family.

We hope you'll support this year's High Holiday appeal through a donation. You can donate online, selecting "High Holiday Appeal" in the dropdown list. or you can mail or drop off your donation.  

 

Selichot Service and Film Discussion

Saturday, September 13

8:00 PM

Join Rabbi David and Cantor Sarra for a short service and viewing of “Ninety-Five Senses,” an Oscar-nominated animated film told from the perspective of a death-row inmate. It explores the joys of being alive, the consequences of wrong-doing, and reflections on mortality.

 

Yom Kippur Afternoon Discussions

3:15 PM to 4:15 PM

Lay-led meditation & chanting the Book of Jonah

 

4:15 PM to 5:15 PM

Rabbi's Discussion: "Spiritual Communities as a Mental Health Refuge for our Young People"

Join Rabbi David and Cantor Sarra for this important discussion with our friend, Rev. Sean Witty.

 

Adult and Teen Volunteers Needed!

Adult volunteers for our Hospitality roles (Zoom Hosts, Ushers, Greeters, and Parking Assistants)

We need many volunteers to serve in these roles across all days and services.

You may sign up using the High Holidays Hospitality Adult Volunteer Form here.   You may sign up for multiple services & volunteer roles on this form.  

You will be contacted by Laura Kelmar or others with more information prior to the holidays.  Contact Laura at laurakelmar@bethelohim.org with any questions.

Parent volunteers for children's programming check-in

We are looking for one parent volunteer from 9:00 AM to about 10:00 AM for each of the three mornings of children's programming to greet and check in children.  You will find the parent volunteer sign-up at the bottom of the High Holidays Children's Registration Form, so you can sign-up when you sign up your children.

Teen volunteers in grades 8 to 12 for children's programming

We are looking for teen volunteers grades 8 to 12 to assist with children's programming. Please sign up HERE.  Contact Maureen Parker at hhprogramming@bethelohim.org with any questions.

 

Yizkor Memorial Booklet

During the Yizkor service — which takes place during four of our holidays (Yom Kippur, Shemini Atzeret, Passover, and Shavuot) — we remember family members, congregants, and friends whom we have lost. 

Each year we print a Yizkor Memorial Booklet with the names of those we are remembering. As we prepare our booklet for 5786 we will automatically add the names of loved ones lost by our congregation during 5785.

We are also offering, as in recent years, photo memory pages to recall anyone lost in the past year. If you have lost a loved one in 5785 and would like to have a page created in their memory, please submit this form no later than Friday, September 12.  See last year's book for examples.

If you have any questions, please email yizkorbook@bethelohim.org. 

In honor of the gift of our loved ones’ lives and contributions, there is also a custom to donate tzedakah (assistance to those in need) to the synagogue community.

Join the Shofar Choir!

It is a tradition at CBE for many congregants to come to the Bimah and participate in our Shofar Choir!  If you'd like, bring your shofar and join in on each day of Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Neilah on Yom Kippur.

We just ask that you test for Covid before arriving at CBE to help ensure the health and safety of our community.  

Wed, September 3 2025 10 Elul 5785