Welcoming Congregations: 5787
Eastern
A Living Room Minyan (ALRM), Brooklyn, NY
A Living Room Minyan is holding services for Rosh Hashanah (Day 1), Kol Nidre, and Yom Kippur daytime services (find a full description at the registration link). ALRMists come from a wide range of backgrounds around observance and Jewish literacy, from growing up attending synagogue weekly to entering ritual spaces for the first time this year. Our goal is to create a space that feels meaningful and transcendent for all ALRMists. We use a Reconstructionist siddur/machzor and supplement it with other prayers and songs that add meaning to our service. The prayers—co-led by our organizers—are in Hebrew, all with transliteration. For daytime services, we’ll be doing Shacharit (morning prayers), reading Torah and Haftorah, and doing Musaf. On Yom Kippur, we’ll also be doing Ne’ilah in the evening.
Buffalo Jewish Collective, Buffalo, NY
The Collective will hold a Rosh Chodesh Elul gathering to set intention and tone for the coming days. We will get together for our annual contemplative Tashlikh gathering, along one of Buffalo's abundance of magnificent waterside locales (followed by sweets and the shenanigans of our youthful shofar ensemble). We will once again be offering our unofficial Kol Nidre 'Shul Buddies' program for people who may be interested in attending services but who wish to do so specifically in the company of other Justice-oriented Jews. There will be a community Breaking of the Fast potluck, which has been welcoming progressive Jews for over a decade, and our newly-traditional Sukkah Hop during various days of Sukkot! Information and highlights from past events can also be found via the Collective's Instagram account.
Cleveland Jewish Collective, Cleveland, Ohio
Our prayer is songful, interspersed with English poetry, and follows the general structure of Jewish services. We will read some Torah and have 1-2 group aliyot which connect our own lives with the Torah. We also offer a variety of other modalities during Elul and Tishrei, including hikes, embodied practice, learning, reclaimed folk rituals, grief space, etc.
D’ror Yikra, Toronto, Ontario
D’ror Yikra is an anti-zionist and collective liberationist minyan (prayer community), led by queer and trans people. All are welcome. Our services are rooted in traditional Jewish liturgy. We strive to dive deep into the traditional choreography of the prayer services as well as weave in new songs and expressions that speak to this moment. You can expect a blend of Traditional-Egaitarian, Jewish Renewal, Kohenet, pre-Rabbinic earth-based practices and a fierce thread of prayers tying us to movements and struggles for freedom.
Eilah Atah, Brooklyn, New York
Yom Kippur services for antizionist community. We will gather for all services using the full traditional liturgy according to Ashkenazi custom. Our vision is for this space to be a songful and spiritually grounding experience without Zionism.
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah, Philadelphia, PA
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah is doing two High Holiday services this year: Shabbat Shuvah on Saturday, September 19th, and Sukkot/Sh’mini Atzeret on Saturday, October 3rd. Fringes was founded on a commitment to rejecting all nationalism and militarism and to being a broad, diverse community of Jews who want a different kind of prayer experience – poetic, lyrical, politically engaged. In our services both joy and grief are welcome. Our prayers sing and our songs pray, as we were formed to answer the challenge, “If you don’t believe the words you are saying when you pray, what are you doing?” Both are on Zoom, and begin at 10 am ET / 9 am CT / 8 am MT / 7 am PT. You can register for both on our website.
Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective, Hartford, CT
Tashlich on the Connecticut River - Sunday, September 13 at 4pm at Hartford's Riverside Park (20 Leibert Ave). We'll meet near the boathouse to share in songs and prayers, reflect on our individual and collective transgressions, and throw stones into the water to cast away harmful behaviors, patterns, and systems. Please wear white. Kids are welcome. We'll have apples and honey after.
Hefker Minyan, Brooklyn, NY
Traditional Egalitarian Day 1 Rosh Hashanah Morning Service
Hinenu Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
Hinenu is unaffiliated and uses Reconstructionist Kol HaNeshamah. Services are heavy on the Hebrew with English poetry and teaching from the rabbi and members. Lots of song! A loving and casual congregation. Hinenu Baltimore is committed to making High Holidays services physically, spiritually, and financially accessible for everyone who wishes to join us. Check out https://www.hinenubaltimore.org/davveningholidays for more info and to register.
Jewish Action Maine, Portland, ME
Jewish Action Maine (JAM) is a community of Jews living on unceded Wabanaki land, who are committed to organizing for liberation through collective action, joyful ritual practice, and cultural reclamation that celebrates diaspora. Join us for the High Holidays this year, with a range of offerings including some small lay-led services, community meals, workshops, and more. Email [email protected] for more information and to register.
Kehillat Sankofa, Washington, DC
Kehillat Sankofa is a kahal that plans and delivers programming that centers Black Jews in the DMV area and online. We support Black Jews in their wholeness, where every part of themselves are welcomed and affirmed. This community reassures all that their life and connection to the Jewish community is desired and needed. One of the first Jewish movements in America was created by Black folks, namely those who were formerly enslaved. They brought their Hebrew Israelite heritage with them through the Maafa (middle passage). We are uplifting this story, tradition and culture that often gets hidden or removed. Kehillat Sankofa welcomes Black Jews, our family, friends, and allies to enter the year 5787 together in prayer and worship. Kehillat Sankofa will hold services this year in the Washington DC area. Specific location to be shared after RSVP.
Kol Tzedek, Philadelphia, PA
Kol Tzedek is a multiracial and intergenerational community. We understand that change takes generations. The Days of Awe offer a rare and powerful gift — time to sing, reflect, learn and connect across generations. Our services are a celebration of Jewish traditions from across our history and diaspora.
Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives, Brooklyn, NY
Holydays services are open to all but do require registration for our planning and to help with welcoming folks into services. Donations are requested from all attendees to support this independent, progressive, lively, joyful community, where doubt can be an act of faith. One thousand or more attend Holydays services, which are being held at Cornerstone Baptist Church this year. See full details and register here.
Makom Durham, NC
This year Makom will be hosting a tashlich ritual, a leil selichot song circle, and Yom Kippur services including Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur morning, and Neilah. Our services include a fair amount of Hebrew and traditional liturgy as well as some poems in English, somatic spiritual practices, and queer ritual.
Mending Minyan, New Haven, CT
The Jewish yearcycle begins anew with our holiest observances. Each year, we explore the power of the High Holidays through the lens of a particular theme. This year, we have chosen doikayt, a Yiddish word meaning ‘hereness,’ associated with the political project of the Jewish Labor Bund at the turn of the 20th century. Doikayt roots us in the practice of building where we are: resisting both assimilation and nostalgia (in Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz’s words) in order to nurture meaningful solidarity and care with our neighbors, our communities, and our ecosystem. As US fascism and repression continue to escalate in tandem with Israel’s genocidal devastation in Palestine and Lebanon, collective ritual observance allows us to break open and come back together again with greater knowledge, capacity, and resilience.
In 5787 the Book of Life will open, and our kavanot (intentions) for the next year will be written into our hearts with all our might. Please join us in togetherness, in hereness, and in the power of these days to ground and inspire us for the year to come.
Mibar v'Lev, Atlanta, GA
Join us for services on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and for Kol Nidre. We are a lay-led, abolitionist and anti-Zionist community. Sign up for updates to receive High Holy Day registration info.
Nehar Shalom, Boston, MA
Nehar Shalom is a small, intimate community. We connect to and express our Judaism in many different ways, including through study, prayer, working for social justice, food, history, music, and art. Our community includes and is led by queer and trans Jews; Jews of color, mixed-race, and white Jews; Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews; people from all different class backgrounds and access to money; and folks who are disabled and chronically ill. Our community includes interfaith families and households. We work to build a community that reflects our anti-oppression values, a place where all know and feel that they belong.
New Synagogue Project (NSP), Washington, DC
In Exodus, The Source of Life instructs us to build a Mikdash—a sacred sanctuary. The Torah also calls this structure a Mishkan, a word coming from the Hebrew root Shin-Kaf-Nun (ש-כ-נ), meaning “to dwell.” To create sanctuary is to build a home where the Divine can dwell within and among us. We enter these Days of Awe navigating terrifying storms. Yet, we hold the power to create shelter within and among us. During the Days of Awe, prayer and song, laughter, tears, and connection strengthen our ability to live with openness, love, and justice. Together we renew our commitment to caring for ourselves, one another, and our neighbors, and to the work of making our world a fitting dwelling place for the Divine. Join us to hold this sacred space together as we enter into the High Holidays and a new year.
Ocean State Havurah, Providence, RI
The Ocean State Havurah (Havurat HaYam) is a nonhierarchical home for anti-Zionist spiritual life that is deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. We are committed to dismantling systems of oppression and building a more liberated future. We celebrate and uplift spiritualities from across the Jewish spectrum and beyond, fully welcoming Jews and nonJews of all statuses in the Greater Rhode Island area to partake fully in this community. We gather on the unceded lands of the Narragansett, Wampanoag, and Pokanoket people. For High Holidays 5787, we will be holding a Tashlich for Liberation on September 13, 3-4pm in Providence, RI. We will also be partnering with Congregation Agudas Achim for services - more information to come.
Ratzon, Pittsburgh, PA
Ratzon is a queer, Jewish, anarchist, antizionist community. Our Yom Kippur services will blend traditional melodies and liturgy with embodied, meditative, nature-based, politicized elements. We will be in-person and outdoors in a covered, accessible location.
Tikkun Olam Chavurah, Philadelphia, PA
We are an anti-zionist, queer-led community for Jewish and Jewish adjacent people based in Northwest Philadelphia, where kids inspire and everyone belongs. We were founded in 2015 and in 2025 began expanding to include Shabbat services, family programming, educational offerings, and more.We are both deeply spiritual and solidly political. We have been working with Jewish Voice for Peace for years. We are open to all, are warm and low key, and are glad to welcome everyone. Our services are a blend of music, traditional liturgy, and thoughtful divrei Torah. We love having folks with us in person and on Zoom! Join us in person at Germantown Mennonite Church or on Zoom. Check out our website for latest information on registration.
V'ahavtah: A Judaism Beyond Zionism Synagogue, Cambridge, MA
Palestine solidarity infuses our services, which are a mix of traditional and contemporary liturgy. We offer the full slate of High Holiday services hybrid - Zoom and in person
Washington Heights Mask Minyan, New York, NY
Our minyan is non-Zionist and pro-liberation. Full liturgy, traditional-egalitarian, Lay-led. Registration by suggested donation.
Western Mass High Holy Days Project, Northampton, MA
We are an organizing team of community members coordinating High Holiday offerings for Elul, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur! In addition to our programs, we are also excited to lift up the abundant leadership of our community and support decentralized offerings throughout Elul and Tishrei. We proudly support the local religious landscape created by and for queer and trans, diasporist, non-zionist and anti-zionist Jews. In this time of ongoing catastrophe, genocide, and unraveling, we hope this coordination can support our community and greater region to be together in intentional, meaningful shared ritual for the High Holiday season.
Worcester Havurah, Worcester, MA
For Erev Rosh Hashanah and Rosh Hashanah, we are collaborating with Mending Minyan and the Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective.
For tashlich, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot/Simchat Torah, please reach out to us via our general interest form at https://bit.ly/4fWeUV3 or email [email protected] The Worcester Havurah is an independent group of Jews and friends-of-Jews of all ages in and around Worcester, MA—Nipmuc territory. We come together to celebrate, sing (not necessarily on key), pray, and grapple with Jewish texts and traditions from a diasporic, liberatory framework. We are committed to Jewish ritual decoupled from Zionism, oriented instead around Torah, our relationships to each other, and our local context; this solidarity sustains us in the collective struggle against racism, white supremacy, and capitalism. We are lay-led. Generally, our services are on a spectrum from creative minyan (lots of singing--emphasis on Hebrew with some English--with lively/collaborative text study/discussion) to a style skewing closer to "Reconstructionish." High Holidays observance will include programming ranging from full services we run, support, or stream, to late-night selichot and creekside tashlich, and leading into our post-High Holiday public community event, the Open Sukkah. We would love to daven (pray) with you!
Central
Doykayt Kansas City, Kansas City, MO
Doykayt KC, the home of Judaism beyond nationalism in KC, will host a Yizkor and Neilah service in Downtown KCMO on Monday, September 21st from 6:00 - 8:00 pm with a break fast meal to follow. Guests who RSVP will receive the address to the event 2 days before the service. Link to RSVP: https://forms.gle/yuzgXwMo4ousZBF58. We will also hold gatherings during one of the days of Sukkot - to learn more details about our Sukkot offerings, contact us here: https://www.doykaytkc.org/contact-us About Doykayt KC: We are a pluralist, queer & disabled-led, anti-Zionist synagogue of 45+ members in Kansas City Metro and across the country, offering in-person Hebrew classes, Torah study, holiday observances, and Shabbat dinners, with plans for Shabbat services coming in the near future. Our congregation is dedicated to nourishing and growing our diasporic and diverse local Jewish community. To learn more about how to get involved, contact us here.
Nichols Park Minyan
Traditional-Egalitarian, full liturgy, no nationalism, membership with generally left politics. We're offering full, free HH services
Taste of Olam Haba, Little Rock, Arkansas
We are offering a full slate of 10 services between Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. We will have kids programming, plus intergenerational programming.
Tzedek Chicago, Virtual / Chicago, IL
Virtual and in-person anti-zionist religious services for Rosh Hashanah, Tashlich, Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur.
World to Come ~ Twin Cities, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Each day of High Holidays is led by different members of our community and will have slightly different flavors. All of them will be songful, heymish, and politically grounded. Different services will have different ratios of Hebrew ~ English, traditional to creative liturgy. We are Twin Cities Jews who identify as leftist, anti-racist, feminist, anti-Zionist queers and those who love us.
Mountain
JVP Denver/Boulder, Denver, Colorado
Join Jewish Voice for Peace Denver/Boulder for High Holiday services on Rosh Hashannah morning and Kol Nidre. Our services are lay-led, participatory, and non-Zionist. We welcome everyone regardless of faith, identity, background, or familiarity with the High Holidays and Judaism.
Pacific
B'Sefer HaChaim, Oakland, CA
B'Sefer HaChaim is a lay-led, traditional egalitarian, anti-Zionist Rosh Hashana minyan in Oakland, CA. We will be meeting for two days of festival prayer on September 12th and 13th, ADA-accessible location and masks are required. Expect a spiritual, song-filled, enthusiastic, and heartfelt service with traditional liturgy. Our ticket sales will cover event costs as well as contribute to a fundraiser for Palestine. Please join us, and we can build the anti-Zionist Jewish community that we dream of.
Beyt Tikkun, Oakland, CA and Hybrid
Beyt Tikkun is a Jewish Renewal spiritual home for politically progressive seekers—Jewish and non-Jewish—based in Oakland, CA with hybrid services. Beyt Tikkun is an anti-zionist congregation committed to a Judaism of love, justice, transformation, and liberation. This year's theme is: The Sacred Practice of Being Here. Here, facing what is true, tending to our responsibilities, and asking how we embody our deepest values as the people we are called to be—right here, where we are. Our services will be musically engaging with traditional and new prayers in Hebrew and English. Our services weave together teachings from Rabbi Cat Zavis and guest speakers, mindfulness, poetry, conversation, opportunities for collective action, and delicious shared meals. Together, we gather not to escape the world, but to become more fully present in it. All of our services will be accessible via Zoom or in some cases live-streamed.
Tzedek Tirdof Havurah
We are a layperson-led anti-Zionist havurah that offers songful, Renewal/Reconstructionist style monthly Shabbat services and holiday events. For the high holidays, we are offering two events: Sunday, September 13th Tashlich is a Jewish New Year ritual that provides a container to reflect on where we have missed the mark. This will be the third time we've gathered on the banks of Kum Sayo (the American River) for this communal casting off of our personal and communal misdeeds, and re-committing to taking action against Zionism, militarism, and authoritarianism at home and abroad.
Location: American River (Exact Spot TBA)
Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am.
Shabbat Shuvah: Saturday, September 19th
The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is known as the Shabbat of Return, and is a time to return to our deepest, most true selves.
Join us for this special extra musical High Holy Days Shabbat!
Location: First United Methodist Church of Sacramento and online. Enter the church via the door at the top of the ramp on 21st St.
Time: Gather at 10:15 am PT, Service 10:30 am - 12:30 pm PT, Oneg hang till 1ish.
Want childcare? Write [email protected] by Thursday, September 17th.
Otherwise, no RSVP needed -- just show up in person or register for the Zoom!