High Holidays with Panim Hadashot: A New Approach

Panim Hadashot's Approach to the High Holidays

Panim Hadashot has made a commitment to offer a unique and different High Holiday program in the fall. The unique program follows the innovative models we created over this past year. The aim of our High Holiday programs are simple.

First, We want to foster more fellowship between Jews by gathering around the festive table. We want to be hospitable. We hope by making our programs interactive and around tables to increase the social dimension of the holidays. We hope people will connect and that their spiritual experiences will be shared with others.

Second, We want to reverse the priority between worship and learning by making learning our primary activity and worship second. Therefore our high holiday program features unique learning opportunities to explore the great themes of the holidays. We will offer our interactive Torah reading called 70 Faces of Torah on the first day of Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur morning, and Yom Kippur afternoon.

Third, We want to be accessible to all Jews, both those without backgrounds and those who do. Our programs are designed to make it possible to feel comfortable and engaged in a unique Jewish experience.

Fourth, We want to provide a deep and enriching holiday experience which will inspire greater interest in and awareness of Judaism's message and its relevance as a religion engaged in the modern world. We do not present Judaism as one way. We celebrate the diversity of Jewish expression.

We value the high holiday services offered by our local synagogues. We also see a need for a different approach for those who hunger to connect, but have not found the current offerings meaningful. We hope that our program will enrich the entire community and bring people closer to connecting to Jewish life.

About the program
We feel that most Jews no longer appreciate or find meaningful the traditional liturgy of the holidays. Many sit bored or disconnected through long and fast paced services. As an alternative, our other learning focus is entitled: One Great Prayer at a Time. Rabbi Gartenberg has selected seven of the great prayers of Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur which will be the subject of study, meditation, and communal chanting. By learning and interpreting the prayers together we hope to make these great liturgies more meaningful and more understandable to all our participants.

Both Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur will feature shared ritual moments of Shofar Blowing and Yizkor. But our emphasis will be on learning and exploration of the great themes and insights of the holidays so that everyone who attends will come away with a deeper sense of the purpose of the high holidays than ever before.

Our High Holidays will feature 3 forums on subjects central to the spiritual concern for these days. The forums will take place on the holidays themselves and will allow people to participate collectively in exploring the great spiritual themes of these holy days. One forum will consider the meaning of prayer? Why do we sit in the synagogue all day in prayer? Do these traditional prayers still carry our spiritual sentiments. If not, why?

A second forum is tentatively titled: Modern Relationships and Teshuvah-Repentance. Does the traditional concept of Teshuvah work in relationships between modern people? We are working on assembling a great panel to explore this theme and to help people better understand Jewish views on how we repair or change our most important relationships.

Tentative Schedule:
Location and Reservations information will be announce during the summer.
Monday evening , October 3: Rosh Hashannah Seder-a festive meal for 150 persons featuring unique customs associated with the New Year's meal
Tuesday, October 4: Rosh Hashannah moring program. See below.
Tuesday evening, October 4: Forum on Modern Relationships and Teshuvah.
Wednesday afternoon, October 12 Seudat Hamafseket-A communal pre Yom Kippur meal for 150.
Wednesday eve, Oct. 12. Kol Nidre and program followed by a forum on the meaning of prayer.
Thursday morning, Oct. 13. Yom Kippur morning program. See below
Thursday late afternoon, Oct 13. Forum with topic to be announced, followed by 70 Faces on the Book of Jonah, a Neilah program and end of the fast.