Makom is so proud to offer the following events animated by prayer, song, embodied ritual, and community togetherness to observe the High Holy Days. We gather this year With Grief and With Awe.
Please register here!
After you fill out our registration form, please fill out our volunteer form. Our congregation is rooted in an ethic of hiyuv, loosely translating to “obligation.” So while we are framing our volunteer needs as exactly that–volunteer needs–we also ask you to remember that only through obligation does our Makom function. We have literally over 100 roles that we need filled, so please, find the role (or roles, plural!) that is right for you and sign up!
Saturday, September 14
Elul song circle
6:00-7:30 pm
We gather in grief, community, and song as the High Holy Days draw near. Bring a song or poem to share, or feel free to just bring your voice.
Saturday, September 28
Leil Selichot
9:30-11:00 pm
We come together on Leil Selichot, the recitation of prayers for forgiveness, late on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah (per Ashkenazi tradition). This will be a songful service to begin our season of reckoning with our lives, the world, and the year that has passed.
Thursday, October 3: Rosh Hashanah Day 1
Rosh Hashanah Morning Services
9:30 am-12:30 pm
We welcome the new year, celebrate the birthday of the world, and hold each other in community as we reckon with grief and genocide. Our songful and participatory services include mixtures of traditional liturgy, songs in Hebrew and English, communal and personal reflection, and more–including a “prayground,” a dedicated family-friendly space for young children and their caregivers to enjoy the service.
Kidz Program
11:00 am-12:00 pm
We invite kids of all ages to sneak away to hang out and explore Rosh Hashanah with a facilitated storytime, art activity, and space to hang out and play. This program will be set up closeby to services. Caregivers welcome but not required, especially for kids who are comfortable joining on their own.
Rosh Hashanah Lunch
12:30pm-2:00 pm
After services, at 12:30 PM, we will host a lunch that will likely be partially catered and partially potluck. All food must be vegetarian (with the exception that kosher fish is permitted) in keeping with kashrut.
Sunday, October 6
Makom’s First Mikvah
9:30 am
weather-permitting!
We immerse ourselves nude in the living waters of the Eno in an embodied ritual of community and affirmation. Afterwards, we gather to grieve the past year of genocide along with our communal and personal losses. Please note that this event is open to community members who are 18 and older who can safely tread water.
Tashlich
11:00 am-12:30 pm
We will partner with the River for a ritual of reflection and release. If you would like, bring a journal and pen, flowers, and a poem to share that resonates. Please do not bring bread–we will provide bird seed for the health of the wildlife.
Friday, October 11
Kol Nidre (Erev Yom Kippur)
6:15-8:00 pm
We enter Yom Kippur with song and worship. We gather at sunset to welcome a day of return, renewal, and accountability.
Saturday, October, 12: Yom Kippur
Morning Services
10:00 am-2:00 pm
We gather to sing, pray, grieve, reflect, and be together on this day of awe and communal reckoning. Childcare will be available.
Yizkor Grief Space
3:30-4:30 pm
We honor, share, and witness both personal grief and loss and the devastation of this past year: the ongoing genocide in Palestine and the violence of white supremacy, transphobia, ableism, and climate change.
Workshops
5:00-6:00 pm
Community members offer workshops, discussions, spaces for rest, and more. Consider signing up to lead a session!
Trans* Neilah
6:30-7:45 pm
As the sun sets, we bring Yom Kippur to a close in community, making space for the last of our hearts’ calling-outs. This service is for everyone and will be led by trans* and non-binary community members.
Break-fast
8:00 pm
Sunday, October 20
Sukkot on the Farm
1:00-3:00 pm
Join us for a family friendly afternoon celebrating Sukkot! There will be a storytime, art activities, sukkah dwelling, and light snacks. All ages are welcome.
Thursday, October 24
Some Hot Torah (Simchat Torah) / New & Existing Member Kickback
6:00pm-8:30pm
New to Makom? Old to Makom and want to meet new folks? Just want to dance with the Torah? Join us for either or both parts of this event: a Simchat Torah celebration, followed by a member social gathering. We’ll sing, dance, enjoy a potluck dinner, decorate cookies, and share out about Makom’s mission and programming.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I register?
The registration link is here.
Where do I sign up for my volunteer spot?
The link to sign up for your volunteer spot is here.
Are the services going to be streamed?
We will be streaming our services for Rosh Hashanah morning, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur morning, and Neilah for those who wish to join us from home. A zoom link will be provided to all who register. Online participants can expect to be able to hear and see what is happening during services, communicate with other online participants in the chat, and view our Machzor (prayerbook) online.
I want to bring my kids to services. What can I expect?
We are an intergenerational community, and children are welcome! All Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services will have a “prayground,” a dedicated family-friendly space for kids/toddlers/babies and their caregivers to enjoy the service. We will be outdoors, so as you are comfortable, you are welcome to find space adjacent to the service for your older child to play, read, draw, etc. On Rosh Hashanah morning from 11am-12pm, kids of all ages are invited to sneak away to hang out and explore Rosh Hashanah with a participatory Kidz program, which will be held closeby to services. Kids who feel comfortable are welcome to join this hour while their caregiver stays at services, and little ones who need more attention are welcome to join with an accompanying caregiver. On Yom Kippur, we will be offering childcare for morning services (only). Please note on your registration that you are requesting childcare.
Where will events be held?
Many of our events in the High Holy Season will be hosted outdoors on a farm in Cedar Grove. Please register to receive an email with addresses and access information for all services and events.
Where should I park?
For Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot services and events, there are two parking areas – one on-site and one that is about 700 feet from the site of services and events. On-site parking is reserved for our community members who need closer access. Total parking is limited and we highly encourage carpooling.
Safety and Accessibility
- Masks: All gatherings will be held outdoors. Masking is required for everyone over age 2 during services, workshops, and other situations where social distancing is impossible. (More details on COVID safety practices below)
- Scents: To make our space accessible for people who are harmed by fragrances, please refrain from wearing strong scents like perfume and other fragranced body/laundry products. Read up on being fragrance-free at this link.
- Seating: Most chairs are plastic folding chairs with no arms. We also have a limited number of sturdy folding chairs with cushions and no arms for those who need a sturdier or more comfortable seat, as well as a few lawn chairs with cushions and arms. You are welcome to bring your own chair if you have one that you need or are most comfortable using. We will have a seating area near the leaders/speakers reserved for attendees who are hard of hearing.
- Fasting: You are welcome at High Holidays regardless of whether you choose to fast. In order to accommodate both those who are and are not fasting on Yom Kippur, we will have a separate area where folks can eat. We will also have limited food on hand in case of an emergency.
- Food: Our food team is working hard to ensure that any events with food will be safe for our community members with allergies. Potlucks will be all vegetarian plus kosher fish. Please do not bring any food with sesame or peanut ingredients to events due to severe allergies; and be mindful that we also have community members who are allergic to gluten, dairy, fish, and tree nuts. Please bring a label for your food! If you or someone attending with you have any food allergies, please include this in your registration. (If you included this info in your membership form, we probably already know, but it would be a good idea to repeat it anyway!)
- If you have any particular accessibility needs or follow-up questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us in advance of services at info[at]makomtriangle[dot]org.
What are the Covid safety practices?
Please review our COVID-19 agreement here. We are asking that individuals over age 2 attending any Makom High Holiday event wear masks–either a KN95, N95, or equivalent–while we are outside and within proximity to one another. We will have some masks on hand, but please bring your own if you are able. If you or your child are not able to mask or need a break from masking, please be mindful of space and make sure you are able to spread out–there will be room for this. If you are feeling symptoms that are atypical for you and/or which seem like possible Covid symptoms, we ask that you stay home and attend services virtually (the zoom link can be found in the email with all service/event details following your registration).
What if it rains?
All of our High Holiday gatherings will be held outdoors, and most are in tents. The Leil Selichot Song Circle, Rosh Hashanah services, and all Yom Kippur gatherings are rain or shine. Please stay tuned for rain plans for Tashlich and Mikveh.
What should I wear?
At all Makom events, you are encouraged to wear whatever makes you feel comfortable and good in an outdoor, community, sacred space. This is a queer space, so we honor our many forms of expression; while knowing that for some of us, choosing what to wear to a community event is a delight, and for others it is stressful. Many people wear white on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to honor the sacredness of these days, and you are welcome – and certainly not required – to honor this tradition. If you have a tallit (prayer shawl), you are welcome to bring it; we will also have some available to borrow during services. Please do wear a mask.
What will services be like?
Services will be songful and participatory, blending traditional liturgy in Hebrew, songs and poems in English and Hebrew, opportunities for embodied practice, and communal creative ritual. Some sections of the service will be more traditional, and others will be more creative. Services will be multivocal and led collaboratively by our community singing team, Rabbi Noah, with many members acting as shlichei tzibur (prayer leaders) and ritual/practice leaders. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur morning services will feature short Divrei Torah (talks, literally “words of Torah”) from Makom community members, reflecting on this year of genocide and resistance, and our theme of With Grief and With Awe. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur morning will include a short Torah service (reading from the Torah with opportunity for healing blessings). There will be a “prayground,” a dedicated family-friendly space for young children and their caregivers to enjoy the service.
What does Songful mean?
Communal singing is a powerful spiritual practice, and we are excited to be building communal singing culture together. Much of services will be sung: we will sing liturgy set to music, songs with a long history, and contemporary songs that touch on themes of grief, awe, release, renewal, and return. Singing will be guided by our singing team, and we want everyone to sing with us – that means you! You can listen to our High Holiday playlist to get ready to sing together.
What does Participatory mean?
Prayer is a communal practice, and you are invited to participate in it just as you are. You are invited to bring your voice to these songs and prayers, everyone welcome. You can always sit quietly in reflection, pray/daven to yourself, move around, or participate however you are called to in the moment. There will be a few points in the service where the community is invited to speak and share something with a partner or with the whole group. This is an invitation that is always optional, and you can opt-in or opt-out based on your comfort level.
Will I be naked in front of people at the mikvah?
No, modesty is a value for mikvah. The plan is to wear bathing suits into the water and then, once we are submerged from the neck down, remove our bathing suits and put them on a raft. We will say blessings and dunk together. As people are ready they can get their bathing suits back and put them on, still under water.