Dear Congregation Beth Israel members and friends,

Every year, I try hard to find the right balance in high holiday planning. Some things are the same every year, and they should be! High holiday nusah (the melody-system associated uniquely with this season) and familiar melodies are a spiritual touchstone. They reach us in our hearts. They are a musical carrier-wave that can bring us to our deepest selves. And some things are different every year, and they should be! The experience of these sacred days shouldn’t be boring or routine. There’s always a spiritual imperative to “make it new” in ways that might open us to new insights and possibilities as the year begins.

This year our holidays will be deeply familiar. We will be using a lot of traditional nusah and very old melodies, in ways I hope will connect us to our ancestors. We’ll hear the stories of our Biblical forebears chanted in ta’am elyon, the special Torah melody used only at this time of year. We’ll sink into the beloved waltz melody of Avinu Malkeinu, and awaken our hearts with the timeless calls of shofar.

This year our holidays will also tap into what’s new and renewing. For instance, the haftarah on Rosh Hashanah morning 1 will still be the story of Chanah who yearned for a child – but we’ll hear a brand-new setting of that story created just for this year. On Yom Kippur afternoon, as always, we’ll hear the tale of Jonah – but in a new form and renewed message that I think might make the story land in ways it hasn’t before.

And this year we’ll be uplifting the voices, talents, and participation of more community members than ever before. Kids from our community will play their instruments to uplift some of our prayers. Members of our community choir will sing solos, lead us in the Bar’chu / the Call to Prayer, and lead some of our prayers with the harmony of duets and trios. And, of course, behind the scenes members of our community will open the walls, move the chairs, and do the thousand-and-one tasks that make the Days of Awe run smoothly for us all.

The holiday season begins on Saturday, September 13 at 8pm with Selihot services. We’ll begin with havdalah to end Shabbat. Then we’ll launch our new week with many beloved prayers and melodies, dipping into the sounds of the high holiday season in ways designed to awaken and open our hearts. We’ll have the opportunity for private reflection on where we’ve missed the mark in the last year. Together we’ll change our Torah scrolls into their holiday garb, the white mantles adorned with autumn colors. And with poetry and song we’ll strengthen our readiness for this season of meaning and transformation.

I hope to see y’all there – and I can’t wait to see each one of you as this beautiful time of year unfolds.

L’shanah tovah tikatevu v’tekhatemu: may we all be inscribed and sealed for a year of goodness.

Blessings to all,

— Rabbi Rachel