We Welcome 5781

Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year – Sep 18 – Sep 20 (Fri – Sun)   

Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement – Sep 27  – Sep 28 (Sun – Mon)

We pause to take a step out of this uniquely difficult year, to reflect and recommit to healing ourselves and the world. 

This year when we must attend services remotely, we have a special opportunity to participate in  new kinds of prayer experiences.  We’ve done the work to compile the various JVP-friendly synagogues and Havurot offering live streams, as well as to collect ritual guides and links for suggested resources for you to use at home to weave the themes and symbols of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur into your life safely and meaningfully at this time. Register here to see the list.

JVP is proud to curate High Holiday resources and services led by Rabbis and JVP members from 8 Jewish communities across the country that all offer something unique but have one essential thing in common: they are warmly welcoming all who want to join them to do so —including those who are seeking a Jewish life outside of Zionism and in solidarity with all people, including Palestinians.

We hope between them all you will find one that is the right speed for you. You can acquaint yourself with the various communities and even pop between them!

Meet the communities offering live streaming of their Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Services in Philly, Chicago, DC, Berkeley, Madison, Baltimore, Western Massachusetts, and Seattle.

The full schedule will be posted 2 weeks before Rosh Hashanah. Please register to get schedule updates. Thank you for your patience.

Tashlich Ritual Guide

Ushpizin Incantations: A Sukkot Supplement

Additional Tashlich ceremony from Tikkun Olam Chavurah & Philadelphia Jewish Voice for Peace

More ritual guides:

Rosh Hashanah 5777 Ritual Guide

Past Tashlich Ritual Guide

School of the Americas Watch Teshuva Prayer

Kol Nidre Mourning Ritual

Soul Candles Ritual Kit

Pictured is the 5779 Soul Candles Kit. Photo by Irit Reinheimer.

With this kit, we bring the tkhines of Jewish women into our lives and hold them up to shine brightly.

The Soul Candles candle making tradition has been passed down through tkhines, Yiddish collections of prayers by and for women. Soul Candles are made to both honor ancestors and protect the living. Said while spinning wick into candles, these tkhines prayers capture the ritual of Jewish Russian and other Eastern European women’s memorial candle making during the High Holy Day season. Jonah Aline Daniel, Rabbi Ariana Katz, and Rebekah Erev have partnered in the past handful of years to explore thkines and the Soul Candles traditions through text, ritual, art, research, prayer and craft. The kit includes all the wick, wax, and ritual guidance required to participate in the ritual fully.

The 5781 kits builds on previous years’ kits with even more ritual and artistic offerings.

For a limited time, the Soul Candles Ritual Kit is available to the public and does not require membership to purchase!

Learn More! Order by August 26th to guarantee delivery in time for Rosh Hashanah.

5781 Radical Jewish Calendar Project

Organized by Jewish month, layering Jewish and Gregorian dates, astrological happenings, holidays, and political history.

Twelve months of political art, culture, and history made by dreamers, artists, and organizers who want to know what time it is.

This project, in our fifth year, was dreamed up by some Jews who were tired of using calendars with advertisements for cemeteries as their only reference for Jewish holy days. This is a collaborative effort between friends and many contributors.

All proceeds will go to artists and design contributors, which include farmers, rabbis, candle makers, facilitators, radio hosts, bodyworkers, rock stars, carpenters, Kohenet priestesses, organizers, and more.

This calendar is a celebration of Jewish culture that is intersectional, queer, feminist, anti-racist, and that challenges and builds a Judaism and Jewishness beyond Zionism. Because you’ve always wanted to find out when Ta’anit Esther and the anniversary of the BDS Call are, all in the same place.

Printed in the Pacific Northwest by union-labor.

For more BDS-friendly Judaica, visit our Social Justice Judaica store here.