High Holy Days 2024

All HHD Services will take place in the Kaplan Theater at the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center - 5601 S. Braeswood Blvd. Houston, TX 77096

REGISTER

SCHEDULE, INFORMATION, AND LOCATION

PRAYERBOOKS (WE REQUEST THAT YOU BRING YOUR OWN)

TESHUVAH WORKSHOPS - REGISTER NOW!

BREAK FAST - REGISTER NOW! 

VOLUNTEER

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The shofar serves as a powerful symbol of the journey of the Jewish soul and identity. The process of blowing the shofar mirrors the spiritual journey each of us takes along the path of our Jewish faith:

1. The Narrow End - The Beginning: The shofar is blown through its narrow end, symbolizing the starting point of the Jewish journey: introspection, struggle, constraints we face as we connect with our neshama (soul). On Rosh Hashanah, from here is where our intentions and deepest spiritual yearnings originate, often in a place of constriction, limitation.
2. The Body of the Shofar - The Passage: As the breath travels through the shofar, it passes through the curved body of the horn. The journey of life itself, is marked by so many twists and turns and just as the breath navigates the curves of the shofar, so too does our Jewish identity navigate the complexities of life, culture, tradition, and personal growth. This part of the process is unseen but essential, signifying the internal development that shapes who we are.
3. The Wide End - The Outcome: Finally, the breath emerges from the wide end, transformed into a powerful, resonant sound that carries far beyond its genesis - this is the impact of our Jewish soulfulness that we invest in the world. The sound is so much greater than the initial breath, representing how our Jewish selves echo through time and space, leaving a profound impact on the world.
4. The Sonorous Call - A Collective Resonance: The sound that emerges is not just a simple note; it is a call to action, a reminder, a wake-up call for the Jewish people and for humanity. It signifies the amplification of our personal efforts, magnified by the community and by divine connection, creating a ripple effect that can inspire and awaken others.

In essence, the shofar brings to life how our Jewish identity is formed and can be expressed especially in the new year, 5785. The High Holy Days invite us into a process that begins with something internal and personal, that is then shaped and molded by our prayers, reflections, and personal meditation, and that ultimately can become a powerful force that resonates far beyond the month of Elul, the ten days of awe, far beyond the days when we imagine the gates of repentance have closed once again. 

We pray that you will join us this year to allow our shofar to resonate within, to create vibrations of joy for what is and inspirations towards change for what can be.  May we each be renewed into the new Jewish year of 5785.  Please sign up to join CSK for High Holy Days.  We are a synagogue without walls, membership, or dues – all and everyone is welcome to enter our mishkan, our holy but temporary dwellings, where each week and month and year, we are newly again at home.

For us, this is what our High Holy Days are all about.  We hope you will join us.  Registration is required, membership is not. Please find all the pertinent information below.   

For the Skimmers:

One more important note - this will be CSK's 11th High Holy Days. We started on a wing and a prayer, actually, lots of prayers! We set forward a vision that Jewish life should be easily accessible to all who seek it out.  There are so many who, for all sorts of reasons haven't practiced or felt a connection to Jewish institutional life for many years.  Despite that, no matter how long it has been since you or someone you know and love has attended services or just felt deeply, Jewishly, connected to Jewish life, one's nekudat hiyyut  (Jewish life force) will rise up and seek expression, when we let it.  CSK wishes to welcome everyone and their nekudat hiyyut. We will always seek to make you feel spiritually at home. This is our commitment, AND in order to do so, we seek your generosity of heart and soul to make it possible.

Now, don't worry, you'll also have a chance to share your generosity of "wallet" when you sign up!  What we offer isn't free, we just don't charge for it. But we must cover all of the infrastructural, personnel, insurance, etc costs for these High Holy Days and the entire year.  We ask you to be as generous as possible when you register.  Thank you! 

Special THANK YOU  to our High Holy Days Underwriters who are helping make the following possible:

• Associate Rabbi Underwriter  - Betty and Barton Slatko
• Soloist Underwriter - Susan Peak
• Cellist Underwriter - Ruth Goldberg and Allan Van Fleet in honor of Shirley Trepel
• Guitarist Underwriter - Hannah and Lenny Golub
• Pianist Underwriter - Rod de Llano 
• Shofar Underwriter - Angela and Michael Cohen
• Security Underwriters - Cynthia Gbadebo / Thom Mendez / Allison and Giovanni Diano / Nanette Tashnek / Virginia and Charles Levenback