High Holy Days 2020 | 5781

S’lichot

Study Session & S’lichot Service*

Saturday, September 12 at 7:30pm

Rosh Hashanah

Evening Service

Friday, September 18 at 6:00pm

Celebration for Families with Young Children**

Saturday, September 19 - link available at 7:30am; enjoy when is most convenient for your family;

Watch Party live with clergy at 11:30am

Rosh Hashanah Service

Saturday, September 19 at 9:30am

Torah Study & Chanting

Saturday, September 19 at 11:30am

Tashlich*

Saturday, September 19 at 4:00pm

Wood Oaks Green Park, Northbrook

Yom Kippur

Kol Nidre

Sunday, September 27 at 6:00pm

Celebration for Families with Young Children**

Monday, September 28 - link available at 7:30am; enjoy when is most convenient for your family;

Watch Party live with clergy at 11:30am

Yom Kippur Service

Monday, September 28 at 9:30am

Torah Study & Chanting

Monday, September 28 at 11:30am

Yom Kippur Study

Monday, September 28 at 2:30pm

Contemplation & Reflection, Yizkor (Memorial) and

Neilah (Concluding) Service*

Monday, September 28 at 4:00pm

* Public Access Available

** Link will be Public Access; Watch Party with clergy will be Member Access

A Note From The BJBE High Holy Days Team

Dear BJBE Congregants,

Welcome to BJBE High Holy Days 2020! These observances will be historic in many ways. We are pleased to again provide you with a consolidated booklet about BJBE’s 2020 | 5781 High Holy Days. As you know, we have made the difficult yet sacred decision to have digital High Holy Days 5781 this fall. Much of what you love about BJBE will be present: sermons, choral pieces, Torah reading, upbeat music, and experiences for young families. We will be weaving together the Traditional and L’dor Vador services for a unified congregational experience.

Included in this High Holy Day booklet you will find information about all of our services for S’lichot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. There are also instructions on how you can access these digital services.

Included with this booklet are forms where you can provide us with your best email address, let us know if you need support accessing and using the technology, share names in the Memorial Book to commemorate your deceased loved ones, send a tribute to another member of the BJBE community, learn about how to access digital services, and order your Lulav & Etrog.

We encourage you to be in touch with the BJBE staff team with any questions. You can email Anne Robbin at arobbin@bjbe.org or Larisa Rozman at lrozman@bjbe.org, or call BJBE at 847-940-7575. Please return the forms included in this mailing to BJBE’s office by Monday, August 17, 2020.

Thank you!

The BJBE High Holy Days Team

Our Mission & Five Core Values

Our mission is to provide portals and platforms where people can discover the meaning and purpose of their lives. Through our commitment to Judaism and each other we have established five core values that define who we are:

TORAH (Jewish Learning)

AVODAH (Worship and Spiritual Practice)

G’MILUT CHASADIM (Acts of Loving Kindness)

COMMUNITY

ISRAEL

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High Holy Days Service Descriptions

Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur Services We will digitally gather together for moments of sacred renewal and reflection. Our clergy will be live on the bimah, physically distanced and masked, and the services will be an intricate tapestry of live and pre-recorded elements. We have a talented team working to weave together the voices of our cantors, our choirs, and our instrumentalists. The services will feature music and liturgy from both the Traditional and L’dor Vador services, the stirring calls of the shofar, sermons, and many moments of uplift and inspiration.

Celebration for Families with Young Children The Celebration for Families with Young Children is a festive and fun digital service for preschool through kindergarten-aged children, their parents, and other family members and friends to celebrate the High Holy Days. This service is open to all who wish to tune in and will be pre-recorded so you can watch whenever it is most convenient for your family. Join the clergy for a “watch party” where we will celebrate together with our community.

Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur Torah Study & Chanting Join us to hear the Torah chanted and to reflect with BJBE clergy on the depth and power of the High Holy Day season. This is the perfect experience for those seeking additional opportunities for meaning during the most sacred time in the Jewish calendar.

Tashlich Service The Tashlich Service is held in the late afternoon on Rosh Hashanah at Wood Oaks Green Park in Northbrook. Should guidelines from state and local officials allow, we will share plans to safely gather by Lake Shermerville to cast bread into the lake to symbolize ridding ourselves of our sins. This will be a special moment to be together during this High Holy Day season.

Yom Kippur Study Join the clergy for a variety of different offerings to reflect, learn, and inspire on the themes of the Day of Atonement.

Afternoon Service of Contemplation & Reflection, Yizkor (Memorial) & Neilah (Concluding) Services

Yom Kippur afternoon begins with a digital service including the reading of Torah and the re-telling of the story of Jonah. Immediately following is a service of Contemplation & Reflection, which will elevate moments of stillness and introspection with music, prayer, and inspirational readings. This service transitions into Yizkor and then our Neilah Service.

A note about digital services:

We have an incredible team working tirelessly to craft our High Holy Day experience. Stephen Edwards has jumped in with his patented charisma to direct our choir through recordings. Our beloved instrumentalists are laying down tracks. Mike Konopka, the genius behind the scenes, is engineering our sound. And we have hired HMS Media, a talented production team lead by Matt Hoffman, who is pulling everything together.

Please also know that we will be sharing suggestions and resources for preparing your environment and your spirit to enter into the Days of Awe.

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Member Access

Digital access will be provided only for those who have made their 2020-2021 Shared Sacred Partnership Commitment and are in good financial standing. Information on how to access our services (links) will be emailed (to the email address listed on the Access Form) ahead of the services, and will be included in a technology sheet in our High Holy Day Kits (see next page for more information). Please write LEGIBLY to ensure accurate entry.

For detailed information on BJBE High Holy Days Services, please see the front inside cover of this booklet for the service schedule and the opposite page for service descriptions.

Please fill out the form in the enclosed mailing and return it to the BJBE office as soon as possible and no later than Monday, August 17. All materials can also be found online at www.bjbe.org/HHD20.

Guest Access Congregation BJBE warmly invites the entire community to worship with us during High Holy Days Services. A public link will be available for our S’lichot, Celebration for Families with Young Children, Contemplation & Reflection, Yizkor, and Neilah services.

BJBE will provide digital access to guests of BJBE members. While we are not charging a ticket price for guest access this year, we ask that you consider making a donation to help offset our costs.

Guests affiliated with another congregation can receive reciprocal access. Please contact Larisa Rozman (lrozman@bjbe.org) for specific guidance on how reciprocity works.

Access Information

Membership is required for access to all Erev/Kol Nidre, and day-of services.

The entire community is invited to our Celebration for Families with Young Children, Tashlich, and Yom Kippur Afternoon Services (including Contemplation & Reflection, Yizkor & Neilah) through a public link.

Guests will be able to have access to our service links. Please see above under “Guest Access” for more information.

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Please note: Service links will only be sent to those who have completed their Shared Sacred Commitment form.

If you have questions about your commitment, please reach out to Anne Robbin, Senior Director, Community Engagement, at arobbin@bjbe.org.

High Holy Day Kits

This year, we are assembling High Holy Day Kits which will contain our High Holy Day Prayer Booklets, the 2020 Memorial Book, our new “Hi” Holy Days Tribute Book, and more. Materials for our S’lichot Service will be available separately.

Pick up for these kits will be done with a socially distant drive-through at BJBE during the days/times listed below:

S‘lichot Booklets:

Sunday, September 6, 10am-12pm

High Holy Day Kits:

Sunday, September 13, 10am-2pm

Monday, September 14, 4pm-7pm

Tuesday, September 15, 4pm-7pm

If you live out of state or are otherwise unable to pick up your kit at the designated time, please contact Caryn Blomquist at CBlomquist@bjbe.org. All materials will also be available digitally on our online toolkit at www.bjbe.org/HHD20 as they become available.

Memorial Books During our Yom Kippur Yizkor Service, we use a meaningful Memorial Book listing the names of family and friends who have been lost to us over the years. The Memorial Book will also be used during Festival Yizkor services throughout the year. Our Memorial Book includes special features of inspiration and remembrance to commemorate your loved ones.

All members are invited to include the names of their deceased loved ones in our Memorial Book. Names can be included for $36 each. You also have the option to include the names of those you wish to memorialize In Perpetuity. The cost for this is $360 per name. If you have already listed your deceased loved one(s) In Perpetuity, they will automatically be included in the 2020/5781 Memorial Book. Please return the enclosed form to the BJBE office by Monday, August 17 to ensure the inclusion of your loved ones in this year’s publication.

Prayer Books/Machzorim

This year, BJBE is creating and distributing our own newly designed prayer booklets, crafted by your clergy, for use during our 2020/5781 High Holy Day services. Please see the “High Holy Day Kits” section of this booklet to find out how to obtain your copies. Please note: you will not need a Mishkan HaNefesh machzor this year.

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High Holy Days Food Drive

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corner of your field. You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger…”

Leviticus 19:9

For 37,000 Chicago area Jews, the Yom Kippur fast is not always a voluntary activity. Please help us end the shame and pain of hunger. A list of much needed items will be included in your High Holy Days kit. Items can be dropped off in the pod in BJBE’s parking lot between September 21-30. Items will be donated to The ARK for distribution.

We also urge you to support MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

Donations may be sent to:

MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

1990 South Bundy Drive, Suite 260

Los Angeles, CA 90025

www.mazon.org

Sukkot & Simchat Torah

Shabbat & Sukkot Morning Service

Saturday, October 3, 9:30am

Shabbat & Simchat Torah Morning Service/Yizkor

Saturday, October 10, 9:30am

Lulav & Etrog are available for $55 through the BJBE office. Please use the Lulav & Etrog section on the purple “Access Form” to place your order by Monday, August 17.

Thank You

Thank you to the clergy, lay leaders, volunteers, and staff who work so hard to make this a meaningful High Holy Days for our community.

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2020-2021 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Brian Tenner, President

Mark Brodson, Executive Vice President

Aviad Sheinfeld, Vice President/Treasurer

Jenn Dubinsky, Vice President

David Greenbaum, Vice President

Sid Siegel, Vice President

Steffanie Pinsky, Recording Secretary

Jackie Edelson, Sisterhood

Co-President

Bonnie Koss, Sisterhood Co-President

Lisa Wilson, Immediate Past President

2020-2021 TRUSTEES WITH PORTFOLIO

Ted Belinky, Budget and Finance

Melanie Berkowitz, Social Action

Michael Erdman, Caring Community

Marti Greenberg, Financial Develop-ment

Steve Harfield, Building and Grounds

Carole Klein-Alexander, Leadership Development

Jeff Miller, Adult Education

Laura Passmore, Israel Hope Shamberg, Education - General Beth Young, Membership

2020-2021 TRUSTEES AT LARGE Carol Berger Michael DiCocco Eric Gerstein Noel Hara Amy Hertzberg Beth Lewis Sonya Morgan Gail Okin Jodi Oldani Gail Ostach Tracy Slutzky HONORARY BOARD MEMBERS Val Rabin z”l Art Schlanger z”l Bernice Waitsman z”l Lynn Wax URJ NORTH AMERICAN BOARD MEMBER Richard Goldberg PAST PRESIDENTS Lisa Wilson Tracy Friend Gary Schaffel Bonnie Litch Terri Argentar David Wax z”l Patti Frazin Gideon Schlessinger Tracy Friend Terri Argentar David Gates Shirlee Cohen Martin Salomon z”l

PAST PRESIDENTS, CONTINUED Jim Ostach Sandee Holleb Dr.Milton Salzer Joseph Ernsteen z”l Stanley Swig z”l Sandra Leon Gerald Loebman z”l James Harfield Marshall Krolick Zelda Wise z”l Albert Wagner z”l Marvin Glanzrock Gerald Hibnick z”l Bertram Sinker z”l Leon Rabin z”l Robert Tauber z”l Arnold Preis z”l CLERGY Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar Cantor Jennifer L. Frost Rabbi Jason E. Fenster Cantor Alexandra M. Kurland Rabbi Emeritus Mark S. Shapiro Cantor Emeritus Cory B. Winter SENIOR STAFF Anne Robbin, Senior Director, Community Engagement Missy Bell, R.J.E., Director of Education Susie Wexler, Early Childhood Director Sandy Robbins, R.J.E., Educator Emerita

Sh a na Tovah U’m etukah Wishing You A Good & Sweet New Year!