High Holidays

ONLINE SERVICES

We will be livestreaming all High Holiday services on YouTube Live for those who are unable to attend in person. Tickets are still required for online viewing.

 

BABYSITTING

Babysitting is available at $10/service per child for children up to age six and this includes age–appropriate High Holiday activities. Note that children can attend both babysitting as well as Kids Services (see below).

Babysitting is from 9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. on both days of Rosh Hashanah; Kol Nidre from 7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m; and Yom Kippur Day from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and in the evening from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

 

KIDS SERVICES

Calling all families with children!

Join us for our kids services—our very own Kid’s Holiday Club!

Children between grades K through 6 will participate in High Holiday activities, led by Shabbat Shalom Club leaders, including board games, prayers, and age appropriate Torah study before joining everyone in the main sanctuary for their rendition of the closing songs. Kids Club will be both days of Rosh Hashanah at 10:30 a.m., 7:30 p.m. for Kol Nidre, and 10:30 a.m. on Yom
Kippur.

And don’t miss out on Totshashanah! For both days of Rosh Hashanah, at 11:30 a.m., please join us in the small auditorium for a toddler-friendly Rosh Hashanah service, with a sweet treat at the end!

 

FREE SEATS AVAILABLE

Do you know of any students enrolled in college, or anyone in the military, who need High Holiday tickets? Or anyone who has never joined us before for High Holidays? Please let us know in the office, and we will extend free seats to them.

 

STUDENT KITS

Send some love to your college students. Sign up for KISHKA, Keneseth Israel’s Student Holiday Kits. It’s easy to do, and students really appreciate receiving a special package from KI during the holidays.

For more details, contact Laura Levin at elllevin@aol.com or 502-429-0165. To sign up, please have the student’s name, address, phone number, and email address.

Submit your student info ASAP, so Laura can make timely arrangements for the care packages.

 

HIGH HOLIDAY HONORS

This High Holiday season, Keneseth Israel would like to honor…you! Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are times to both reflect on and celebrate our accomplishments and milestones from the past year. Would you like to mark a special event with an Aliyah or another honor on the High Holidays? Please tell Rabbi Freed what you would like to commemorate. Even if you are not celebrating something this year but would like an honor at services, please email Rabbi Freed at rabbi@kenesethisrael.com or call him at 502-459-2780 by September 1st.

 

LULAV AND ETROG

KI is proud to offer lulav and etrog sets for $54/set – reserve your set by calling the office, or using the RSVP portal. The deadline to order is August 21st. The lulav & etrog are some of the ritual objects that we use on Sukkot. Though we call it the Lulav, it actually is comprised of branches of three species: the Lulav (palm), the Hadas (myrtle), and the Aravah (willow). Taken together with the etrog, they make up the Four Species.

 

END OF SUMMER FESTIVAL

Keneseth Israel and Keneseth Israel Preschool invite you to our End of Summer Festival! Join us Sunday, August 30th, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for a fun-filled day of bounce castles, games, and kosher carnival food!

Bring a friend to come experience a taste of what KI has to offer the community, and if they’re a new attendee of Keneseth Israel they’ll get their High Holiday ticket for free this year!

 

EVENTS IN THE SUKKAH

Join Rabbi and Ariane from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 27th in their Sukkah for Open Sukkah, featuring games, snacks, and lulav shaking!

Join us for a kid-friendly dinner this Sukkot with the KI Sisterhood at their Sukkah party on Monday, September 28th, at 6:15 p.m. following minyan. We’ll bring the drinks – you bring a dairy/vegetarian picnic dinner. Please RSVP when purchasing your High Holiday ticket.

Come enjoy a beer and Torah on tap with Rabbi Freed at Jews & Brews: After Hours on Wednesday, September 30th at 6:15 p.m. in the Sukkah, following
6:00 p.m. services. This event is free but we do ask that you RSVP when purchasing your High Holiday ticket. Bring a dairy/vegetarian picnic dinner.

 

CLASSES

Join Cantor Hordes on Thursday, October 1st at 6:30 p.m. for some sun salutations, some Torah, and some reflections on the High Holiday season.

Don’t miss hearing from the new facilitators from the Year of Civil Discourse initiative on Monday, September 21st at 4:30 p.m. Keneseth Israel members have gone through training to become dialogue facilitators. On Yom Kippur they will be leading us in structured conversations designed to help us better express and understand each other even (and especially) on topics where we have disagreements and differences. We hope you will join us as we practice Machloket L’shem Shamayim, disagreement for the sake of heaven, on this holy day. The experience is free but RSVPs are required so that we can properly structure the conversations.

Elul Classes this year:
As we prepare for 5787, join the clergy of KI and AJ to think about the intersection of machloket (civil discourse) and cheshbon hanefesh (introspection). How do we utilize our tradition to deepen our understanding of ourselves and bring us closer to each other and God in preparation for the High Holidays? Join us on the following Sundays from 6:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. at KI:

8/16: Iron Sharpens Iron: The Necessity of Difficult Discourse and Debate in Jewish Tradition (taught by Rabbi Ben Freed)

8/23: Talk Therapy: How Discourse Helps Us Better Understand Ourselves (taught by Cantor Sharon Hordes)

8/30: Words That Hurt and Words That Heal: The Discourse of Forgiveness (taught by Rabbi Scott Hoffman)

9/6: Discourse with the Divine: How Challenging God Challenges Us (taught by Rabbi Ben Freed)

 

TIKKUN OLAM

Every year, we conduct a food drive for those in need in our community. Please bring with you a bag of nonperishable food, toiletries, and other necessities from August until the end of Sukkot. All donations will be delivered to the JFCS Food Pantry following Sukkot.

 

SELICHOT & CEMETERY SERVICE

Join us on Sunday, August 30th, at the KI cemetery (719 Locust Ln) for Selichot services and cemetery beautification projects (planting, cleaning, and repairing gravestones) at 10:00 a.m., and clergy will be available for individual gravesite memorial prayers starting at 11:00 a.m.

 

ROSH HASHANAH SEDER

KI is proud to bring to everyone a traditional Rosh Hashanah Seder at 6:45 p.m. on September 11th following 6:00 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat / Rosh Hashanah services. Reservations to this event
can be made at the purchase of High Holiday tickets.
Adults: $25 / Children: $15

 

TASHLICH

In partnership with Adath Jeshurun, we will be going to Big Rock Park on Sunday, September 13th at 5:00 p.m. for Tashlich, a ceremony where we cast off our sins (and feed the ducks) into Beargrass Creek. We will be walking over from KI at 4:30 p.m. but if you can’t make the walk, we will just see you there. Tashlich will be followed by Rosh Hashanah afternoon services. The entrance to the park is at the north end of Valletta Rd.

 

BREAK THE FAST

The Keneseth Israel Sisterhood invites you to Break the Fast Monday evening, September 21st, following the conclusion of Yom Kippur services. There is no charge for this meal but donations to defray preparation costs are always appreciated. Please RSVP at the time of ticket purchase.

 

SUKKAH BUILDING & DECORATING

Calling all architects and architect wannabes—come help the Men’s Club build KI’s Sukkah on Sunday, September 20th at 9:30 a.m.!

All families are invited to join us on Tuesday, September 22nd at 5:00 p.m. to come make decorations! Come enjoy this family-friendly event that includes all you need for a fun day of arts and
crafts, an edible Sukkah building contest, and pizza bagels! Free of charge.

 

SIMCHAT TORAH PARTY

Festivities begin on Saturday, October 3rd at 7:30 p.m. at AJ with heavy hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and socializing before services begin. Then, at 8:30 p.m., we move on to the Simchat Torah service.

The holiday celebrations continue at AJ on Sunday, October 4th, with morning services at 9:30 a.m., dancing with the Torahs at 10:00 a.m., and community lunch at 11:00 a.m.

We are excited that the Jewish Learning Experience will be joining us for Simchat Torah celebrations.

 

SHOFAR BLOWING AT GLENVIEW

Join Rabbi Freed on Sunday, August 30th starting at 3:00 p.m. as he blows the shofar at the Glenview (5100 US Highway 42) and talks about the High Holidays.