This is a repeating eventSeptember 23 (Tuesday) 10:00am
Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur 2025 with Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (JRC)
Event Details
Join JRC for our community High Holiday experiences. We will join together to reflect on this year and gather strength and hope for the next.
Event Details
Join JRC for our community High Holiday experiences. We will join together to reflect on this year and gather strength and hope for the next. Experience the beauty of our social justice values tangibly woven into thousand-year-old liturgy for contemporary times. Engage in ways that feel meaningful to you, whether that is through prayer, nature, community, art, song, meditation, or contemplation. JRC’s High Holidays are open to all. Guest ticket information can be found below and many of our services and experiences do not require tickets.
These 5786 festivals of Selichot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur will include unique JRC traditions like our Erev Rosh Hashanah Shofar Walk along Evanston’s Lakefront, our Yom Kippur Open Mic, where members share their Avodat HaLev (Offerings of the Heart), and our outdoor Family and Ne’ilah services. We will gather together in the First United Methodist Church of Evanston, affectionately called “our church” after 40 years of partnership, with live-streamed services for those who are unable to attend in person. Please view our full schedule of High Holiday services and activities below.
If you need an accommodation to fully participate please contact Micky Baer at [email protected] or 847-328-7678 ext. 2224.
Can I attend JRC’s High Holidays as a guest?
Yes! We are so happy to welcome you to join our community for High Holidays. Guest tickets may be ordered online.
- Children of Members Ages 0-26: No Charge (please fill out this form for any 18-26 year old children of members who may be attending High Holidays so we can print name tags for them. Thank you)
- Children of Non-Members Ages 0-17: No Charge
- Non-Members Ages 18-36: $18
- Non-Member Guests of JRC Members Ages 37 & Older: $270
- Non-Members Ages 37 & Older: $396
If you would like to explore the possibility of becoming a member, Micky Baer, our Executive Director, would be happy to connect and answer any questions. Guests who purchase tickets and join JRC before December 1, 2025, will receive full credit for the cost of their individual tickets toward membership fees. Click here to learn more about joining JRC.
Erev Rosh Hashanah Shofar Walk: September 22, 5-6 pm
Outdoors at Dawes Park & via Facebook Live, no tickets required
From Shofar to Shofar: We celebrate our gathering and the joy of the New Year! Greet friends and community of all ages as we walk a loop along the lakefront with 7 shofar stations. Sing with our clergy and the JRC Choir and sound the shofar across the community – bring a shofar and bring friends! – Note: this will be JRC’s only Erev Rosh Hashanah observance.
Rosh Hashanah Day 1 Service: September 23, 10 am-1 pm
Indoors at First United Methodist Church of Evanston and live streamed, Tickets Required
We gather at “our church” for our JRC High Holiday Traditions. Connect with your community for Teshuvah (personal reflection and accountability), Tefillah (prayer and spiritual connection) and Tzedakah (commitment to repairing brokenness through justice).
Tashlich: September 23, 4:30-5:30 pm
Held outdoors at Dawes Park by the lakefront, no tickets required.
Gather with our community at Dawes Park on the pier. This ritual of casting out sins, and the things we’re ready to let go of in the new year, is a ritual of release and renewal. In keeping with our Jewish value of caring for our climate and earth, rather than throwing bread we invite you to cast off birdseed, small stones, frozen corn and peas, or other bird-and-fish and environmentally friendly items.
Rosh Hashanah Day 2 Services: September 24, 10 am-12 pm
Indoors at JRC & via Zoom, no tickets required
Join Rabbi Rachel Weiss and guest cantorial soloist Rabbi Barbara Penzner, along with JRC musicians at home in our JRC sanctuary for our more relaxed and heimische 2nd Day service.
Kol Nidre: October 1, 6:30-9 pm
Indoors at First United Church of Evanston & livestreamed, tickets required
We gather at “our church” to begin our 25-hour Yom Kippur spiritual retreat together. Rabbi Rachel Weiss and guest cantorial soloist Rabbi Barbara Penzner will lead us through our Day of Atonement and reflection with music, sermon, poetry, and liturgy.
Yom Kippur Morning Services, Including Yizkor: October 2, 10 am-1 pm
Indoors at First United Church of Evanston & livestreamed, tickets required
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, continues with our morning services weaving together Torah, music, teachings, and liturgy. The Yizkor service will take place following the Torah service, featuring time for individual remembrance.
Yom Kippur Open Mic: October 2, 1:30-2:30 pm
Indoors at First United Church of Evanston and on Zoom, no tickets required
Open Mic is a longstanding JRC tradition in which we invite members to share their Avodat HaLev/Offerings of the Heart. While the traditional Musaf service consists of special offerings for Yom Kippur, it is our JRC tradition that these short personal reflections comprise our offerings. Any JRC member may submit a reflection, but these should not be advertisements or promotions. Please contact David Tabak at [email protected] by September 12 with your intention to participate. Submissions are due by September 25. Click here for more Open Mic details.
Join us in-person at FUMC or via Zoom
It is thoughtful reflections of diverse congregant voices that makes Open Mic so rich each year. We invite your participation.
Yom Kippur Contemplation & Connection: Member-Led Activities: October 2, 3:00-4:30 pm
Indoors and Outdoors at First United Methodist Church of Evanston, no tickets required
Join us for thoughtful, member-led programming, from learning, to yoga, to book discussions, to puzzles.
Yom Kippur Mincha Torah Service: October 2, 5-5:45 pm
Indoors at First United Methodist Church of Evanston & livestreamed, no tickets required
Hear readings from the Book of Leviticus and the Book of Jonah chanted in Hebrew and English by guest cantorial soloist, Rabbi Barbara Penzner.
Ne’ilah By The Lake: October 2, 6-7 pm
Outdoors at Dawes Park by the lakefront and Facebook Live, no tickets required
As the sun sets and the gates close, we close the holidays with singing, Havdalah, and one final shofar sounding. A good and sweet year to all!