High Holy Days Menu — 5787 / 2026
Everything you need for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at Temple Hillel B'nai Torah — service times, family programming, and registration, all in one place. This page is updated as new details are confirmed, so check back as the holidays approach.
Whether you're an HBT member or joining us as a non-member friend, register below for the High Holy Days.
👉 Jump to Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur service details
Sign up now so we can plan for you and your family. Registration closes August 14.
Here's the schedule for planning, with a little learning along the way.
Service Schedule
🌅 Erev Rosh Hashanah — Friday, September 11
✨ Rosh Hashanah Day 1 — Saturday, September 12
Children's & Teen programming —
Grades 3–6 Children's Service: Join Rena Coben & Asher Cohen for a joyful, interactive High Holy Day service filled with music, singing, prayer, and meaningful participation designed especially for children in Grades 3–6.
Teen Group: Join Jon Wishnie for a structured opportunity for teens to move around, discuss the service, and participate in holiday-related activities.
Sanctuary Service —
Come early to hear the HBT Band, who will welcome us into the day starting at 9:15 AM and continue playing for the first ten minutes of services — and again later in the Torah service.
Approximate highlights: 9:30–10:30 AM, songful liturgy; around 10:30 AM, Torah service led by our teens; around 11:15–11:30 AM, Rabbi Aliza's D'var Torah; around 12:00 PM, more songful liturgy.
Eliana Golding, shaliach tzibur.
Tashlich —
Tashlich means "to cast away" in Hebrew. This beautiful Rosh Hashanah tradition invites us to reflect on the past year and symbolically let go of our mistakes, regrets, and burdens as we begin the New Year with hope and renewal.
Join Rabbi Aliza for this meaningful ceremony at a natural body of water. Bring a small handful of birdseed (instead of bread, to help protect wildlife) as we symbolically cast away what no longer serves us and welcome the year ahead with open hearts.
Children and pets are welcome. We hope you'll join us for this meaningful High Holy Day tradition.
Meet at the boat launch, Millennium Park, 300 Gardner Street, West Roxbury.
🌅 Rosh Hashanah Day 2 — Sunday, September 13
🧒 Childcare is available with advance registration — register for childcare.
Sanctuary Service —
Rosh Hashanah Day 2 at HBT is a bit more traditional and songful, with plenty of chances for everyone in the community to come up and bless the Torah, plus some participatory study.
Approximate highlights: 9:30–10:30 AM, songful liturgy; around 10:30 AM, Torah service; around 11:15–11:30 AM, Rabbi Aliza's D'var Torah or text study; around 12:00 PM, more songful liturgy.
"The Rosh Hashanah Puzzle" —
It's not just a puppet show — it's also part sing-along, part dance party, part scavenger hunt, part puzzle! Help familiar fairy tale characters figure out what they need to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, by solving each story with an object hidden in the room.
Take Snow White — she's being offered an apple, but it looks suspiciously shiny. It must be poisoned! Can anyone find a different apple for her?
With Anna Sobel, Talking Hands Theatre. For all ages — Generations Together. Non-members and Friends of HBT are welcome — stay for snack and community.
Chevruta Corner — from Rosh Hashanah toward Yom Kippur Chevruta: the practice of studying in pairs. This is where we share the thinking behind what you're reading.
Rosh Hashanah opens the Days of Awe; Yom Kippur closes them. In between is the work of teshuvah — the turning inward that the ten days ask of us.
The liturgy moves through Zichronot, remembrance, before it moves through Shofarot, the shofar's call forward. We look back before we're ready to look ahead.
Reflect: What from this past year are you carrying into the ten days ahead?
🌙 Kol Nidre — Sunday, September 20
Kol Nidre —
Join Rabbi Aliza and Eliana Golding, featuring Robert Kalish on cello, for the stirring and joyful melodies of Kol Nidre as we begin the 25-hour journey of Yom Kippur together.
We begin right at 6:15 PM, and the sanctuary doors close for the recitation of Kol Nidre. If you arrive after 6:15 PM, ushers in the lobby will let you in at an appropriate time — please sit at the back and move forward once the Torahs are back in the ark.
It is our custom to wear white.
🧒 Childcare is available with advance registration — register for childcare.
🕊️ Yom Kippur — Monday, September 21
The holiest day of the Jewish year — a day of prayer, reflection, and renewal. All are invited to join in community as we seek forgiveness, healing, and hope for the year ahead.
Intergenerational Family Service —
Join Jon Wishnie, Rachel Shapp and Poppy the Puppet! From the Barechu to the shofar blasts, our melodies, stories and prayers will help us share in the holiness, reflection and sweetness of the New Year. We hope you'll come gather with family and your HBT community to celebrate 5787!
Yom Kippur day —
Join Rabbi Aliza and Eliana Golding, featuring many volunteer leaders throughout the day, for a highly musical, songful full day of Yom Kippur. Many people stay at the Temple for the entire day, as various members run workshops between service times — join us all day!
🧒 Childcare on Yom Kippur runs 9:30 AM–1:30 PM — register for childcare.
Body • Spirit • Mind —
By weaving together yoga for the body, meditation for the spirit, and reflection for the mind, you'll be guided on a holistic journey embracing the themes of Yom Kippur — reflection, healing, and renewal.
2:00–2:40 PM — Chair Yoga with Laurie Rotman
2:45–3:25 PM — Yom Kippur Liturgy discussion with Elana Elstein
3:30–4:05 PM — (TBD)
4:10–4:50 PM — Chanting and Pausing with Tracy Rich
Break-the-Fast —
We'll break the fast together in the Knopf Social Hall with a cold dairy meal, immediately following the Final Shofar Blast. Please RSVP by Thursday, September 10 — see the registration form for cost.
Chevruta Corner — a note on remembrance The practice of studying in pairs.
Yizkor asks us to remember: teachers, parents, friends, all who shaped who we are. Memory isn't simply looking back — it becomes legacy through how we carry it forward.
Every generation receives a legacy and adds to it. In memory, we act.
Reflect: Whose memory do you carry with you into these Days of Awe?
Start times are approximate and events may run earlier or later than scheduled. We recommend arriving 15 minutes before the scheduled start to avoid missing anything.
Children's & Family Services
Family programming — the Intergenerational Family Service, Tashlich, and The Rosh Hashanah Puzzle — is listed with the rest of the Service Schedule above. For full program details, photos, and to register for The Rosh Hashanah Puzzle, visit our Children & Family Programming page.
Childcare
Childcare is available for ages 3 and up with advance registration, based on interest indicated:
Erev Rosh Hashanah (Fri, Sept 11) — 7:00–8:30 PM
Rosh Hashanah Day 1 (Sat, Sept 12) — 9:30 AM–1:00 PM
Rosh Hashanah Day 2 (Sun, Sept 13) — 9:30 AM–1:00 PM
Kol Nidre (Sun, Sept 20) — 6:15–8:30 PM
Yom Kippur (Mon, Sept 21) — 9:30 AM–1:30 PM
Indicating interest doesn't guarantee a spot — we'll confirm with you directly. Please register by September 15. Without sufficient confirmed interest, we won't be able to offer childcare on a given day.
Ready to Register?
Please be sure to check back on this page for up-to-date information, events, and registration details as the High Holy Days approach.
Already registered? Give to the Bima Appeal →
Chevruta Corner — a note on the tradition
Each year, HBT's Bima Appeal is one way our community makes that third step visible. We say these words in the High Holy Day liturgy: teshuvah turns us inward, tefilah turns us toward God, and tzedakah turns us outward, toward one another.
This page continues that tradition while giving us time to reflect on what matters and how we can make a difference.
Reflect: As you prepare for the Days of Awe, how does tzedakah fit into that process for you this year?