High Holidays
Feed Your Body, Feed Your Soul!
Shanah tova – this High Holiday season, we’re wishing you a sweet new year with lots of delicious meals, engaging services, and fun and meaningful community gatherings. Let us help you tend to your body and spirit by bringing in the new year with us!
Service options for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur:
- Reform Services with Rabbi Jevin Eagle and Ethan Sobel
- Conservative Services with Rabbi Brandon Bernstein, Rabbi Danny Shapiro, BU ’21 Alum Connor Dedrick, and Emily Anfang
Registration
All students are welcome and encouraged to participate in whichever High Holiday activities will help you start off the new year on the right foot and fit with your schedule. Sign up on the link below for delicious meals with recipes from Jewish communities around the world and multiple styles of meaningful prayer services. Come between classes or spend the day with us.
Sign up here for to register for High Holiday events.
Parents, Alumni, Faculty/Staff, and other Community Members
We welcome non-student community members to join us for High Holiday services. In order for us to continue to offer High Holiday services and other programming free of charge to students, we ask that you make a donation to BU Hillel in the following suggested amounts in lieu of tickets.
Please make your donation at the links below and email Rabbi Danny Shapiro at shappyss@bu.edu to have your name added to the registration list at the reception desk for both Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Suggested Donation for Individuals: $200
Suggested Donation for Families: $518
Schedule of Events
Rosh Hashana
Friday, Sept. 15 – Erev Rosh Hashana:
- 6:00-7:00 pm – Reform service
- 6:00-7:00 pm – Conservative service
Saturday, Sept. 16 – Rosh Hashana Day 1:
- 9:00 am-12:00 pm – Conservative service
- 10:30 am-12:00 pm – Reform service
- 7:15-8:00 pm – Conservative service
Sunday, Sept. 17 – Rosh Hashana Day 2:
- 9:00 am-12:00 pm – Conservative service
- 3:00-3:30 pm – Tashlich with Shofar Blowing: Casting our sin into the Charles
Yom Kippur
Sunday, Sep. 24 – Kol Nidre:
(Candle lighting – 6:20 pm)
- 4:30-6:00 pm – Pre-Fast Dinner
- 6:00-7:00 pm – Reform service
- 6:00-7:00 pm – Conservative service
Monday, Sep. 25 – Yom Kippur:
- 9:00 am-12:00 pm – Conservative service
- 10:30 am-12:00 pm – Reform service
- 5:45-6:15 pm – Community Yizkor: Remembering those we’ve lost
- 6:15-7:15 pm – Traditional Neilah service
- 7:30-9:00 pm – Break-Fast Meal
Other Fun Activities
Check back soon, as additional programming for the High Holidays is to be announced!
Graduate Student Events
Graduate Students are welcome to attend any of the services above with the entire BU community. We will also have the following graduate student events:
Friday, Sept. 15 – Erev Rosh Hashana:
- 7:00pm – New Year’s Toast & Dinner
Monday, Sep. 25 – Yom Kippur:
- 7:15pm – Break-Fast Meal
Graduate Students – Signup here for Meals and Service!
Service Leaders
For all leader bios, please click here.
Reform
Conservative
Navigating Classes During the Holidays
Under BU’s “Policy on Student Absence Due to Religious Observance,” any student may request excused absences from attending classes or participating in examinations, work, or study requirements in order to accommodate the observance of their religious faiths.
This year, Yom Kippur falls on Monday, September 25th, an academic class day. You may email your professors at least one week before class to notify them of your upcoming absence and request a reasonable accommodation for any work you may miss. Rabbi Brandon is available to serve as your advocate in communicating with professors if needed – feel free to email him at <bbernste@bu.edu>.