As the month of Elul begins, plans for the High Holidays at Northern Hills Synagogue– Congregation B'nai Avraham are almost complete. Rabbi Noah Ferro and president Bill Freedman, along with many volunteers, have been planning services and related events. Northern Hills is an egalitarian, fully inclusive congregation located at 5714 Fields-Ertel Road in Deerfield Township (North-Eastern Cincinnati).
Rabbi Ferro will be leading High Holiday services at Northern Hills for his second year. A 2017 graduate of Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, he joined the Northern Hills family as the full-time Rabbi in July 2018 and has impressed the congregation and the community with his humor, wide knowledge and ability to teach, inspire, and engage his many different audiences.
Each morning of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur there will be a choice of traditional service with choir, and either a musical/meditative service or a family service. Rabbi Perlman will lead a musical/meditative service with guitar on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.
The Family Service on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur will be an inter-generational service that will include play, singing, thoughtful discussion, and snacks. Northern Hills will, as always, offer babysitting and additional activities for children and teens.
As in the past, volunteers will lead most services, read Torah, and blow the shofar. The High Holiday Choir, under the direction of Claire Lee, will enhance services with music from a variety of sources old and new. The sanctuary is newly equipped with the "T-coil" sound augmentation system for the convenience of hearing aid users.
Former Vice Mayor David Mann will be our guest speaker for a learning session 6pm - 7pm on Yom Kippur.*
Rosh Hashanah begins on Sunday, Sept. 29, with the evening service for the holiday at 6 p.m. Unaffiliated Jews are invited to come to Northern Hills to "hear the song of their people" – that is, the shofar. There is no charge to the community for "virtual tickets," but persons wishing to attend services are requested to call the synagogue office and leave their name and contact information. For more information, please call (513) 931-6038 or email admin@nhs-cba.org.
SELICHOT
The traditional "warm up" for Rosh Hashanah began with the Selichot service on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 8:30 p.m., when Rabbi Ferro and Rabbi Jonathan Perlman presented a program entitled, "Jewish Voices: Perspectives from Our Tradition on Sin, Repentance, and Forgiveness."
Rabbis Ferro and Perlman presented the major themes of the High Holiday season as seen through the eyes of several traditional and modern Jewish thinkers. Perspectives included were those of Maimonides, Martin Buber, and Rabbi Art Green. The program was followed by dessert and the service of penitential prayers.
EREV ROSH HASHANAH: September 29
6pm - 7pm Evening Service with Choir
ROSH HASHANAH - DAY 1: September 30
9am Rosh HaShanah Morning Service/ Shacharit
10am Rosh HaShanah Family Service
10am Torah Service
11am Musaf Service
11am Youth/ Family Activity
1pm Light Dairy Lunch Following Musaf
5pm Tashlich
5:45pm Rosh Hashanah Afternoon and Evening Service/ Mincha Maariv
8:03pm Candle lighting
ROSH HASHANAH - DAY 2: October 1
9am Rosh HaShanah Morning Service/ Shacharit
11am Rosh HaShanah Musical Musaf Service
11am Rosh HaShanah Traditional Musaf Service
12pm Kiddush Following Musaf
8:01pm Havdalah
EREV YOM KIPPUR: October 8
7pm - 9pm Kol Nidre Service
YOM KIPPUR: October 9
9am Yom Kippur Morning Service/ Shacharit
10am Torah Service
10am Yom Kippur Family Service
10:45am Yizkor Service
11am Family Activity
5pm Yom Kippur Afternoon Service/ Mincha
6pm Yom Kippur Learning Session with David Mann*
7pm Neilah
7:48pm Break the Fast
7:49pm Havdalah
*There will be a learning session 6pm - 7pm between Mincha and Neilah (afternoon and evening services) on Yom Kippur. Guest speaker David Mann, former vice mayor of the city of Cincinnati, will serve as the presenter.
Mann's topic is "Skepticism About, and Love For, Good Government, From the Mishnah to Today – A Long-Time Cincinnati Officeholder and Citizen Reflects on City Government, Its Players and Its Citizens."
He will take two challenging statements that appear in Pirkei Avot, the "Ethics of the Fathers," and discuss how they have foreshadowed and influenced the recent conduct of city government.
