Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mark a sacred season in Jewish life—an invitation to reflect, renew, and return. In the Reconstructionist tradition, these days are not centered on divine judgment in a supernatural sense, but on the deeply human process of teshuvah—a turning toward our best selves, our values, and our communities.
The High Holidays offer a structured moment to pause, examine our lives with honesty, seek forgiveness, make amends, and recommit to living with intention, compassion, and justice. Through ritual, prayer, and personal introspection, we engage meaningfully with the year behind us—and imagine the one ahead.
Selichot is a special service usually held on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah begins. It marks the emotional and spiritual entry into the High Holiday season, offering prayers for forgiveness and reflection. Each year at Kol Ami, we use Selichot as a gateway to explore thought-provoking topics, compelling contemporary issues, and reflections on how to pray in our modern time.
Erev Rosh Hashanah welcomes the Jewish New Year with a sense of sacred possibility. At Kol Ami, the evening service blends traditional prayers with modern readings, poetry, and music that reflect our shared values and contemporary concerns.
We begin the new year with the blast of the shofar, as Kol Amites quickly pick up the traditional melodies and musical themes that shape our High Holiday services. As with all of our High Holiday gatherings, Rabbi Gilah Langner and Hazzan Ramón Tasat (North) lead the service alongside lay leaders and Kol Amite musicians, creating a heartfelt and participatory experience.
Rosh Hashanah morning services are rich with liturgy, intention, and community spirit. The prayers and readings—whether ancient, adapted, or newly created—focus on renewal, introspection, and a call to action for the year ahead.
At Kol Ami, lay members of our community read from the Torah, offering thoughtful, modern interpretations of sacred texts. Children’s programming takes place at the same time, and all generations come together for the joyful and powerful shofar service which serves as a call to action in the coming year.
Tashlich is a deeply symbolic ritual held near a body of water in a local park. It offers a moment to release burdens, regrets, or habits that no longer serve us. Instead of casting breadcrumbs (which may harm local wildlife), we use duck food, small stones, or other natural elements. After the ritual, we come together for singing, a potluck picnic, and community bonding.
Kol Nidre, the opening of Yom Kippur, is a moving and solemn gathering. In Reconstructionist practice, this service affirms the power of community in our search for forgiveness, healing, and recommitment. While the traditional annulment of vows is recited, it is often framed as a metaphor for releasing ourselves from self-imposed limitations or unresolved guilt. The haunting melody of Kol Nidre invites deep introspection, while contemporary readings and music bring ancient themes into the present. The sanctuary is quiet and full of potential, as the Day of Atonement begins.
Yom Kippur morning is a time for deep introspection, prayer, and learning. The focus of the service is on teshuvah—the age-old quest for return, renewal, and transformation. Communal recitations of our shortcomings, both old and new, are followed by a Torah service and small group discussions that explore the day’s core themes. As the morning concludes, we recite Yizkor, creating a heartfelt space to remember and honor loved ones.
Ne’ilah, the closing service of Yom Kippur, carries a sense of urgency and sacred closeness. A few minutes into the service, the Ark is left open, allowing individuals to step forward and offer their personal prayers. The service includes several prayers and songs recited only this one time a year. Our final communal shofar blasts mark not only the end of the fast but also the beginning of a new spiritual chapter as the new year takes hold.
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