It’s the Jewish New Year! A formal worship experience serves as the backbone to this day. Beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, we work our way through a special Holiday prayerbook called the Mahzor. Since our current version only offers Hebrew and English, we have crafted digital materials to offer full transliteration as well as additional readings, reflections, and meditations. The morning starts with a series of prayers led by our cantor, Rafi Dworsky, who is assisted by Rabbi Dan Kaiman and Morah Sara Levitt. A musical ensemble supports the experience, adding depth, flourish, and meaning to the various parts of the prayerful morning.
By 10:00 a.m., we begin the formal chanting of the Torah service. This participatory event involves a public reading of a section of the Torah. The Torah is chanted aloud in Hebrew, with translations available on-screen or in your prayer books. Members of the congregation are called up throughout this part of the service with honors and blessings. A special honor is reserved for the person who chants a selection from the Prophets (haftarah), which usually follows the completion of the public Torah reading. The exception is the first day, when the haftarah is chanted in the afternoon.
After the final blessing of the Torah, Rabbi Kaiman will offer an opportunity for prayers of healing. Should you or someone you love be in need of prayers for healing, please come forward as instructed and share either the English or Hebrew name of the person whom you would like to include. Alternatively, if you would like to submit a name before the Holiday, please email info@ bnaiemunah.com to be included at each of these opportunities throughout the Holiday season.
The scrolls are now returned to the Ark to mark the end of the Torah Service. Following a moment of teaching and learning from Rabbi Kaiman, our musical ensemble and cantor resume leadership of the service and we sing a public version of the prayers found in the Mahzor. This final part of the service generally concludes by 12:30 p.m. and culminates with blasts of the shofar. At that time the entire community is invited to partake in a Kiddush lunch. Later in the afternoon, at 5:30 p.m., a short afternoon and evening service will take place as we round out the day of prayer and reflection.
The Zoom Meeting ID is 918-583-7121. To join by phone, dial (346) 248-7799 and enter our Meeting ID.