Shabbat Shuvah/Yom Kippur

YomKippur is a day of turning inward. But it is also a day of turning outward to community, when the barriers that isolate us from each other gradually melt away. Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger explained that, since those barriers are symptoms of our sins, atonement causes them to disappear. As we are purified from sin, we recognize our deeper unity with others, which was always there beneath the surface.

The opposite is also true. Not only does atonement bring us closer to each other, but our closeness to each other helps us in the process of atonement. The work of teshuvah, of changing course, is too hard for anyone to do alone. We find the strength to meet that challenge in the knowledge that we stand with others doing the same work. It is as members of a sacred community that we find the courage to grow.

May we draw strength from one another on this Yom Kippur, and may our journey of atonement strengthen our bonds to one another.

• The New Shul’s Shabbat morning service is from 9 to about 11:45 am, followed by a kiddush-lunch open to all. This Shabbat, October 1, the kiddush-lunch is sponsored by Ada Anbar in memory of her husband Michael Anbar.
• Yom Kippur begins on Tuesday evening October 4. Our service on Tuesday evening begins at 5:30 pm. On Wednesday, October 5, our services for the morning of Yom Kippur begin at 8:15 am. We will blow the shofar to end the fast at 6:45 pm. Afterwards, the shul will host a break-fast, open to all. Complete information on our Yom Kippur services is available here.
• Our services for the first two days of Sukkot, Monday and Tuesday October 10 and 11, are from 9 am to about 11:45 am.
• Our service for Sh’mini Atzeret, Monday October 17, is from 9 to 11:45 am, and includes Yizkor, the memorial prayer.
• Join us on the night of Simhat Torah, Monday October 17 at 7 pm for hakafot and dancing.
• Our service for the morning of Simhat Torah, Tuesday October 18, is from 9 am to about 12:15 pm.