“To everything there is a season …”

… And this is the season for introspection, reflection, and renewal. There is something profoundly moving about gathering as a community to pause and reflect, individually and together, as we put the past behind us, and start the new year afresh.

We warmly invite everyone to join us for High Holidays services this year, beginning on Erev Rosh Hashanah, Monday, September 6, at 6 PM. The safety of everyone in our community is of paramount importance, and because of the protocols we adopted during the pandemic and the upgrades we have made to our facilities, we are able welcome you into our building with the utmost confidence. In line with the NYC mandate, we are requiring proof of Covid-19 vaccination for all visitors, and masks must be worn by everyone over the age of two. 

Limited seats for all our High Holidays services are available.

Elul Reflection by Rabbi Joui Hessel

The past 18 months have been challenging for each of us, to say the least. For many, the pandemic has been a difficult and lonely period of time. Isolation from friends and loved ones creates a sense of disconnection, of seclusion and of loneliness. Now more than ever do we desire a touchpoint – a connection to others. For it is human nature that compels us to seek out friends, to connect with neighbors and others around us. Building a sense of community is what keeps each of us grounded; we crave the knowledge that one is not alone on a deserted island but rather amidst a group of people who care, support and guide each other. Judaism even encourages a community, for a prayer service to begin, one must have a minyan (traditionally 10 men). In other words, we are not to pray alone, but rather in the midst of a community.

This High Holy Day season we have the opportunity to join together as a community, and when we do, may we pray for a New Year filled with good health and serenity.

“Begin Again,” a New Year song

Five years ago, in the spirit of reaching out across different faiths, 92Y’s Bronfman Center for Jewish Life commissioned a song for the new year.

The initiative was the brainchild of Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein. “My idea was to get Jews to sing together, embodying the precept that we’re one people. As always, we also want to reach beyond our walls and ourselves,” he said at that time.

Since then, the New Year Song initiative has reached more than 10 million people around the world, crossing boundaries of faith and nation.

This year, Elana Arian — our High Holiday services music director — was commissioned to write a new song, entitled “Begin Again.” Joining Elana are Rebecca Schoffer and 92Y’s Shababa Community Singers; the Congregation Rodeph Sholom American Sign Language Choir; and the Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir at Middle Church, who are in the process of rebuilding their church after a fire earlier this year.

You can watch — and share! — the video on Facebook.