Temple Hillel B'nai Torah

Jewish Holidays 5787 / 2026–2027

Erev Rosh Hashanah services

Friday, September 11, 2026

7:00pm-8:30pm

Join Rabbi Aliza & Eliana Golding for Erev Rosh Hashanah services (plus Shabbat!)

Erev Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat this year: Our Shabbat melodies will join with the famous, stirring melodies of Erev Rosh Hashanah liturgy. 

Whether you are a long-time member, recently joined our community, or are returning after some time away, we are grateful to gather with you during these Days of Awe. May this season bring reflection, renewal, meaningful connection, and hope for the year ahead.

We wish you and your loved ones a sweet, healthy, and peaceful New Year.

Shanah Tovah!

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ROSH HASHANAH DAY 1 Saturday, September 13, 2026 Family Service 8:30am – 9:30am stay for snack

Intergenerational services on Rosh Hashanah morning and Yom Kippur morning with 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 will come gather with family and your HBT community to celebrate 5787! 

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Rosh Hashanah Day 1 Sanctuary Services with Rabbi Aliza & Eliana Golding 9:15am – 1:00pm

Come early to hear the HBT Band, who will welcome us into this special day beginning at 9:15am and continue playing for the first ten minutes of services (and then later again in the Torah service!).

Join Rabbi Aliza and Eliana Golding (featuring the HBT Band!) for a highly musical, songful, Rosh Hashanah morning service. 

Some highlights of the service (approximate times):

9:30am-10:30am: Songful liturgy

Around 10:30am: Torah service, led by our teens!

Around 11:15/11:30am: Rabbi Aliza's D'var Torah

Around 12pm: More songful liturgy

A Special Note About the Shofar

There will be no shofar sounding on Day 1 of Rosh Hashanah this year because it falls on Shabbat. The shofar will be sounded on Day 2—so come back and join us!

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Members Only Grades 3–6 Children’s Service 10:30 AM–12:00 PM with Rena Coben & Asher Cohen

A joyful, interactive High Holy Day service filled with music, singing, prayer, and meaningful participation designed especially for children in Grades 3–6

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Members Only Teen Group 12:00pm with Jon Wishnie

A structured opportunity for teens to move around, discuss the service, and participate in holiday-related activities.

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Day 2 of Rosh Hashanah this year is a Sunday!!

Sanctuary Service with Rabbi Aliza & Eliana Golding Sunday September 13 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Join Rabbi Aliza and Eliana Golding (featuring the HBT Band!) for a highly musical, songful, Rosh Hashanah morning service.

Day 2 is very special service, featuring a bit more traditional liturgy (very songful), a lot of chances for everyone in the community to come up and bless the Torah, and some participatory study. 

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Family Service The Rosh Hashannah Puzzle Talking Hands Theatre with Anna Sobel 10:30AM – 12:00PM followed by snack

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? For all ages.

Tashlich: A Time to Cast Away and Begin Anew September 13 5:00pm – 5:30pm

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 bird seed (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. Millennium Park meet at the boat launch (located at 300 Gardner Street in West Roxbury)

Kol Nidre & Yom Kippur

KOL NIDRE

Join Rabbi Aliza and Eliana Golding (featuring Robert Kalish on cello!) for the both stirring and joyful melodies of Kol Nidre as we begin the 25-hour journey of Yom Kippur together.

We will begin right at 6:15pm, and the recitation of Kol Nidre with Rob Kalish on Cello. If you arrive after 6:15pm, you will be let in at an appropriate time by ushers in the lobby. Please sit at the back and then move forward once the Torahs are back in the ark.

YOM KIPPUR DAY

Family service 8:30am – 9:30am

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 will come gather with family and your HBT community to celebrate 5787! 

Yom Kippur Sanctuary, morning Service 9:30 AM led by Rabbi Aliza and Eliana Golding

Join Rabbi Aliza and Eliana Golding (featuring many volunteer leaders throughout the day!) for a highly musical, songful full day of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur at Temple HBT is very special: Many people stay around the temple for the entire day, as various members run workshops in between service times. Join us all day!

Members Only Grades 3–6 Children’s Service 10:30 AM–12:00 PM

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

Members Only Teen Discussion 12:00 PM

Join Jon Wishnie for a structured opportunity for teens to move around, discuss the service, and participate in holiday-related activities.

Full Schedule of the Day for all Adult Services and Workshops:

2:00 pm – 4:45pm Body – Mind & Spirit

 2:00–2:40 PM — Session 1 Chair Yoga with Laurie Rotman

2:42–3:22 PM — Session 2 Yom Kippur Liturgy discussion with Elana Elstein

3:24–4:04 PM — Session 3   TBD

4:05–4:45 PM — Session 4 Chanting & Meditation with Tracy Rich

Afternoon Service

5:00 PM Yizkor led by Rabbi Aliza

5:30 PM Mincha led by Susannah Sirkin

6:30 PM Ne'ilah led by Rabbi Aliza and Eliana Golding

7:25 PM Final Shofar Blast & Fast Ends

Immediately following Break-the-Fast

Sukkot Under the Sun: Welcome Back Celebration & Open House

Friday September 25 5:45 PM

Celebrate Sukkot, celebrate our community, and celebrate a greener future at Temple HBT!

Join us for a festive Welcome Back Dinner, Sukkot Celebration, Open House, and Solar Panel Ribbon Cutting. Shake the lulav and etrog, spend time in our sukkah, share a delicious meal, and help us celebrate an exciting milestone as we officially dedicate our new solar panels.

Whether you’re a longtime member, new to HBT, or simply curious about our community, come meet people, explore Temple HBT, and enjoy an evening of food, friendship, gratitude, and celebration.

Everyone is welcome—bring family and friends!

Simchat Torah: Celebrate the Joy of Torah!

Friday, October 2 | 6:30–8:00 PM

Join us for one of the most joyful celebrations of the Jewish year! Together, we’ll unfurl the entire Torah scroll around the sanctuary, with each person receiving a special blessing from the Rabbi inspired by the verses they are holding.

Then we’ll take the celebration outside to dance with the Torahs, sing, celebrate, and end the evening with our festive pumpkin auction featuring the pumpkins from the bimah.

Come experience the joy of Torah and community. All ages and everyone are welcome!

Tu B'shvat

Sunday, January 24, 2027

Tu BiShvat or Tu B'Shevat or Tu B'Shvat (Hebrew: ט״ו בשבט‎) is a minor Jewish holiday, occurring on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat.

The day that marks the beginning of a “new year” for trees. Commonly known as Tu Bishvat, this day marks the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle.

Purim

Begins sunset of Saturday, March 22, 2027

The holiday of turning everything upside-down, with story, song, masks and costumes, sharing hamantashen (filled pastries) and gifts to the poor.
Purim is fun at HBT. We'll hear the Megillah, the story of Esther, Mordechai, the foolish king Ahasuerus and his henchman Haman, and drown out Haman's name with noisemakers.

Chaverim School Megillah reading ~ Adult Megillah reading ~ Plus our annual Purim carnival. Stay tuned for this year's theme!

Yom Ha'atzma'ut

Israel Independence Day — Wednesday, May 12, 2027

We celebrate Israel’s independence on Yom Ha’Atzmaut. It commemorates when David Ben-Gurion, who was Israel’s first prime minister, publicly read the Israel’s Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948. According to the Jewish calendar, this was the fifth day of Iyar, the eighth month of the civil year, in the year 5708.

Page updated for 5787 / 2026–2027 • May 2026