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Beth Tikvah Congregation High Holy Days 2024/5785

Not a member of Beth Tikvah Congregation?  

Are you looking for a High Holy Day place of worship? 
Welcome to Beth Tikvah Congregation, Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Register by Friday September 6, 2024

Thank you for stopping by.  We look forward to welcoming you to our Beth Tikvah Congregation High Holy Day services and gatherings. There will be many opportunities to join together as a community and congregation. BTC live stream will also be available for many of our worship services. Whether you join in person or online, this will be a High Holy Day season of community, joy, meaning and inspiration! Mishkan Hanefesh, prayer books for the Days Of Awe, are provided at each service. 


High Holiday tickets are $200 each for non members.
Live stream access also requires a ticket purchase.

You are required to register to receive a ticket, and your ticket is needed at the door to attend all Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. Your guest ticket(s) will be at the welcome table of the first High Holy Day Service you attend. You will be required to show your ID at that time.

Payment for non member High Holy Day tickets:

Payment for Non Member tickets can be made by check to Beth Tikvah Congregation, or by credit card by calling the temple office. Payments must be received by September 6, 2024.

Please contact the office during regular business hours at 847-885-4545 to reserve your High Holy Day tickets.


 


 

Details about each Holy Day

The High Holy Days are known by a number of names. Some refer to this sacred time in the Jewish calendar as the “High Holidays.” Others refer to period of time as “Days of Awe” or Yamim Noraim in Hebrew. Generally speaking, when people speak of the High Holy Days, they are specifically referring to two of the holiest days of the year: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These two holy days bookend the Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuvah in Hebrew) and tend to be the congregational worship services which attract the most participants. 

The High Holy Days are periods of introspection and prayer. Our worship invites us to look inward and reflect on our past year, learning from our mistakes, righting those whom we may have wronged, reconnecting with God and the people in our lives, and pledging to improve ourselves and our world. Our services are filled with prayers and songs, as well as rituals which unite us as a sacred community and as family and friends.

In Jewish tradition, the Hebrew month Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days and the days and additional Holy Days that follow are of great importance.

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Selichot

Selichot, a Hebrew word meaning “forgiveness,” refers to the special penitential prayers recited by Jews during the High Holy Day season. The Selichot liturgy contains some of the finest Jewish religious poetry ever composed. Reform congregations usually observe Selichot on the Saturday night just prior to Rosh Hashanah - a solemn and fitting preparation for ten days of reflection and self-examination. At Beth Tikvah, our evening of Selichot worship and study takes place on the Saturday night immediately preceding the first night of Rosh Hashanah, dependent upon which day of the week Rosh Hashanah begins. Please view our Calendar to determine its exact date.

Selichot - with its haunting music lead by our choir, and with penitential prayers - is intended to instill a mood of anticipation that serves as a prelude to the sacred themes of the Days of Awe. Each year our worship service is preceded by a short, engaging study session, as well as a dessert reception. The evening concludes with the blast of the shofar which urges participants to reflect upon their lives and to initiate desirable life changes. Our Selichot Services and study sessions are open to all and we hope you will consider joining us for this moving and inspirational night of prayer, introspection and study.

Learn more about Selichot

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah literally means “Head of the Year,” and refers to the celebration of a new Jewish year. This holiday, on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, and provides an opportunity for each of us to examine our actions from the preceding year through prayer. Rosh Hashanah is a joyous and meaningful holiday celebrated by special customs, such as gathering together as a sacred community, sounding the shofar, and eating apples and honey and round challah.

Learn more about Rosh Hashanah

Tashlich

After the conclusion of services on the First Day of Rosh Hashanah, our congregation participates in a ritual called Tashlich. Tashlich means “to cast or throw.” It is a tradition on Rosh Hashanah to go to a river or a stream to symbolically cast our sins into the water. The key passage in this ceremony, which sometimes involves throwing pocket lint or bread crumbs into the water, is from Micah 7:19: “God will have compassion upon us: God will subdue our iniquities and you will cast (tashlich) all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Metaphorically, as the eyes of fish never close, so God always watches for our sins to be cast away. The service and songs are appropriate for members of all ages.

Shabbat Shuvah

Shabbat Shuvah - the "Shabbat of Returning" - falls each year between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It's placement in our season allows us to focus on repentance, mindfulness, and renewal in a quiet way. At Beth Tikvah we create a warm atmosphere of calm and intimacy at this service; like a small - but nonetheless precious - jewel, placed in the crown of the royal pair of High Holy Days on either side. The start time and format for this service will align with our regular Shabbat worship calendar.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur means "Day of Atonement" and refers to the annual Jewish observance of fasting, prayer and repentance. Yom Kippur is considered the holiest day of the Jewish year. In three separate passages in the Torah, the Jewish people are told, "the tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a sacred occasion for you: You shall practice self-denial" (Leviticus 23:27). Fasting is seen as fulfilling this biblical commandment. The Yom Kippur fast also enables us to put aside our physical desires to concentrate on our spiritual needs through prayer, repentance, and self-improvement.

Yom Kippur is the moment in Jewish time when we dedicate our mind, body, and soul to reconciliation with God, our fellow human beings, and ourselves. We are commanded to turn to those whom we have wronged first, acknowledging our sins and the pain we might have caused. At the same time, we must be willing to forgive and to let go of certain offenses and the feelings of resentment they provoked in us. On this journey we are both seekers and givers of pardon. Only then can we turn to God and ask for forgiveness: “And for all these, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, and grant us atonement.”

Learn more about Yom Kippur

Fri, November 8 2024 7 Cheshvan 5785