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Jewish Holidays and Commemorations

Leil Selichot: (Thursday evening, Sept 10^th)   

The Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah Leil Selichot (translated literally as Forgiveness Night) begins a practice called selichot which are prayers for forgiveness that are added to the daily cycle of prayer until Yom Kippur. It’s a chance to start our preparations for introspection during the high holiday season. 

• 🧿 Wine and letter writing – Get stationary and write letters to people you’ve lost touch with, want to tell how much they mean to you, or want to apologize for something. 
• 📖🧿 Leyil Selichot Listening Party: Listen to songs that have themes such as saying sorry, repentance, trying harder, and promises. Let the music spark discussion.  
• 🧿 Candlelight hike at sunset – allow nature and moonlight to set the mood for the holiday season 
• 🧿 Host an evening of Elul reflection journal making. (If hosting on Leil Selichot just shift the program to be reflection journal making for the high holidays or for the next month of Tishrei as Elul will be almost done. However, self-reflection is good at any time of the high holiday season! 
• 🧿 Prepare for the high holidays with a shofar poetry night 
• 🧿 Get ready to repent through chocolate:  A Selichot program

Rosh Hashanah: (Sundown, Sept 11 – Sundown, Sept 13)  

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, a time for introspection, new beginnings, and celebrating the “birthday of the world”. Here are some things you might not know. 

• 🧿 Host an apple and honey tasting party with lots of different kinds of apples and exotic honeys and learn why we dip apples in honey. 
• 🧿 Host a Shabbat Shuva Torah/Clothing Swap to refresh our hearts and our wardrobes for the new year ahead. 
• 🧿🫂Host a Latinx Rosh Hashanah Dinner using this guide by Jewtina and OneTable 
• 🧿 Tashlich (custom to throw breadcrumbs in open body of water on afternoon of Rosh Hashanah to cast away your sins.) For a more ecofriendly but still deeply reflective practice you could host an Alternative Tashlich. Other ecofriendly options include using pebbles or rubber ducks in a pool if you don’t live near the water. 
• 🌱 Organize a “Reverse Tashlich” event where the community cleans up a local waterway, symbolizing the removal of human impact from the environment. 
• 🌱📖 Apple picking and talking, discussion about food insecurity, and donating 1/10 of the apples picked to a local food pantry (reminiscent of the Jewish people giving 1/10 of their harvests as a tithe) 
• 🌱📖 Rosh Hashanah hike – use readings/prayers as you go for added Tikkun Olam clean the trail as you hike (or pair with Reverse Tashlich) 
• 🧿📖 Go roller- or ice-skating to try something new for the New Year and learn about teshuvah (repentance and return) through the physical experience of skating in circles! 
• 📖🧿 Rosh Hashanah Fruit Fiesta – gather as many varieties of not-as-common fruits as possible and learn why we incorporate them in Rosh Hashanah.   
• 📖🧿 Gather your Rosh Hashanah recipes and taste your way through the holiday with this program guide and resource sheet.

Fast of Gedaliah: (Monday, Sept 14th)

Tzom means fast or abstinence from eating. The Fast of Gedaliah is a day set aside to commemorate the assassination of Gedaliah, the leader of the handful of Jews who remained in Judah after the destruction of the 1^st Temple, at the hand of a fellow Jew, effectively ending Jewish residence in the land.   

• Host a break fast meal for Tzom Gedalia.  
• Explore resources from A Mitzvah to Eat and discuss alternatives to fasting on Jewish fast days. 
• 📖 Host a discussion on the history of the Fast of Gedaliah and reflect on themes of leadership and communal unity. 

Yom Kippur: (Sundown, Sept 20 – Sundown, Sept 21)  

The culmination of the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) is the fast day of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). This is the day at the conclusion of which, according to tradition, Gd seals the Books of Life and Death for the coming year. The day is devoted to communal repentance for sins committed over the course of the previous year. 

• 📖 Host a carbo-load pre-fast gathering to discuss themes of forgiveness and how to frame personal goals for the coming year. 
• 🧿 Organize a post-fast break-fast meal, focusing on community connection and sharing personal reflections from the holiday. 
• 📖 Facilitate a pre-fast gathering focusing on the practice of Teshuvah (repentance) and how to rectify past mistakes here is a sheet to help. Or, discuss why we fast on Yom Kippur. 
• 🧿 Partner with a synagogue to attend services or a community break fast 
• 🧿 Host a peer support gathering with A Mitzvah to Eat to discuss how to make Jewish fast days meaningful to people for whom it is not safe to fast. 
• 📖 Learn about alternatives to traditional fasting 
• 🧿 Host an alternative Yom Kippur gathering, such as a contemplative hike 
• 📖 Read the Book of Jonah together and discuss its compelling themes 

Sukkot: (Sundown, Sept 25 – Sundown, Oct 2nd) 

The festival of Sukkot is one of the three great pilgrimage festivals of the Jewish year. Beginning five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot is named after the booths or huts (sukkot in Hebrew) in which Jews are supposed to dwell during this week-long celebration. Here is some background. 

• Learn about the tradition of inviting Biblical guests (ushpizin) to your sukkah and create decorations for your sukkah 
• 🧿 Build your own sukkah!  
• 🌱 Edible Sukkah Making: Tikkun Olam Edition – make sukkah out of gingerbread crackers and candy and discuss the tikkun olam topics your sukkah represents – program guide and resources here 
• 📖 Enjoy Sushi in the Sukkah and learn about Jewish Japanese Fusion 
• 📖 Make your own local lulav with this program  
• 🌱📖 Learn about the connection between Sukkot and social justice issues like climate change, homelessness, and refugee and immigrant rights 
• 📖 Host a breakup party! Learn a bit of “letting-go” wisdom from Kohelet and encourage participants to share and celebrate what they’re breaking up with this season. 
• 🧿 Community Sukkah hop – contact 3 or 4 partner organizations and see if you can “hop” around to their Sukkot.  Bring drinks and snacks to fulfill the mitzvah of eating in them. 

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Torah Portions

Sat, Sep 5: Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech 

In Nitzavim, Moses describes the Covenant between God and the Israelites, urging the Israelites to uphold the Covenant and honor the Torah so that they may be rewarded with life in the Land of Israel. In Vayelech, Moses concludes his speech to the Israelites, blesses Joshua, and instructs the community to gather every seven years to read publicly from the Torah. God predicts the eventual straying of the Israelites. 

• 📖 Host a star gazing or astronomy program inspired by Deut 30:12 and learn about Jewish astrology and try the Judaism and the Zodiac ready to go program.
• 📖 Learn about the seven species of the land of Israel through this cocktails and mocktails program 

Sat, Sep 12: Rosh Hashanah – regular readings interrupted 

Sat, Sep 19: Parashat Ha’azinu 

Moses recites a song to the Children of Israel that serves as testimony of their covenant with God and his vision for their future. God tells Moses to head up Mount Nebo to find his final resting place. 

• 📖 Host a vision boarding or bucket list program  
• 🌱 Inspired by Moses’s poem, provide feedback and comments on poems written by incarcerated folks with Free Minds 
• 🧿 Host your own music program – have each participant bring their favorite Jewish song to share with the group!  
• 📖🌱As Moses prepares for his resting place, visit a local cemetery. Jewish Learning elements: learn about Jewish burial practices or do a gravestone symbol scavenger hunt. Tikkun Olam element: clean up a local cemetery.
• 🌱 Visit a nursing home and share songs with the residents 

Sat, Sep 26: Sukkot – regular readings interrupted 

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Secular Celebrations and Remembrances

Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) 

• 🧿 Host a dinner featuring traditional dishes from various Hispanic cultures, highlighting the intersection of Jewish and Hispanic identities. 
• 📖 Invite a guest speaker or curate a discussion on the history of Jewish communities in Latin American countries. 

Self-Improvement Month (September) 

• 📖 Host a workshop on goal setting using Jewish ethical frameworks (like Mussar), focusing on personal growth and self-reflection. 
• 🧿 Organize an “Elul Reflection” journal-making night, providing prompts for individuals to set intentions for the upcoming year.   

Hunger Action Month 

• 🌱 Learn about local organization combatting hunger and volunteer with them, or pack snack kits for a local shelter, or invite a speaker to a Shabbat dinner to talk about local work to fight hunger and how to get involved  
• 🌱 Postcard Party – learn about food access and write advocacy postcards in partnership with Mazon, a Jewish response to hunger. Resources and more info Here 

• Host a “Cat & Coffee” morning where community members can share photos and stories of their pets—a great way to build social bonds. 
• 🌱 Organize a supply drive for a local animal shelter, collecting food, toys, or blankets for cats in need. 

Sept 1 (Tue): Labor Day (CA/US) 

• 📖 Explore the history of Jewish labor movements. 
• 🧿 Host a party using your purchase power to support unionized business and learn about Jewish values connected to the labor movement. 
• 🌱 Invite a speaker to learn about local worker right’s group. 

Sept 3 (Thu): Skyscraper Day 

• 📖 Discuss the Tower of Babel story while taking a trip to your highest publicly accessible viewing spot (e.g. top of the Empire State Building, Willis Tower Skydeck, One World Observatory, Transamerica Pyramid, CN Tower, Washington Monument, etc.) 
• 🌱🧿 Go on a tour of hostile architecture in your neighborhood and use the Jewish value of B’tzelem Elohim (created in the image of God) to explore ethics in urban design. 

Sept 4 (Fri): World Sexual Health Day 

• 📖 Host a Sexy Shabbat and learn about the value of sexual pleasure in Judaism.  
• 🌱 Teach about organizations in your area where you can get free STD testing or sexual health care, and send everyone home with a little goodie bag. 

Sept 5 (Sat): National Tailgate Day 

• 📖 Watch some football and play Jewish Football Connections during the game. 
• 📖 Bust out your college gear, fire up the grill, and learn about the barbecue party at the end of the world. 

Sept 6 (Sun): Read a Book Day 

• 🌱🧿 Host a book swap or blind date with a (Jewish) book,and donate remaining titles to a local literacy non-profit 

Sept 7 (Mon): International Bacon Day 

• Host a brunch and taste-test different bacon alternatives while learning about what’s so Jewish about pork with this ready-to-go program. 

Sept 8 (Tues): Star Trek Day 

• 📖 Pick an episode of the Star Trek and the Jews podcast, screen the relevant episode, and discuss the Jewish themes therein. 

Sept 9 (Wed): National Teddy Bear Day 

• 🌱 Purchase new teddy bears as a group to donate to a local children’s hospital or shelter. 

Sept 10 (Thu): National TV Dinner Day 

• 🌱 Prepare “Mitzvah Meal Bags” to donate to a local food pantry or community fridge to help those facing food insecurity.” 

Sept 12 (Sat): National Video Games Day 

• 📖 Host a gaming night and explore Jewish themes in modern media, or discuss the concept of play in Jewish tradition. 

Sept 15 (Tue): International Day of Democracy 

• 📖 Host a “Civics & Schmooze” night to discuss the history of democratic values in Jewish thought. 
• 📖 Learn about the current challenges to democracy in Israel and the potential impact of upcoming elections 

Sept 16 (Wed): National Play-Doh Day 

• 🌱 Create sensory bins for kids and donate them to your local shelter 
• 🌱🧿 Design art pieces that represent Jewish values you hold dear and brainstorm local organizations embodying those values you’d like to work with in the coming year 

Sept 18 (Fri): International Equal Pay Day 

• 🌱 Partner with a local non-profit to host a panel on economic justice and wage equity. 

Sept 19 (Sat): World Cleanup Day 

• 🌱 Organize a neighborhood or park cleanup in honor of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) 

Sept 21(Mon): International Day of Peace 

• 📖 Host a “Peace & Prayer” session, focusing on Jewish texts related to Shalom (peace) 

Sept 23 (Wed): International Day of Sign Languages 

• 📖🌱Host a Jewish Sign Languages workshop and discuss the importance of accessibility and inclusivity in Jewish communal spaces. 

Sept 24 (Thu): World Maritime Day 

• 🌱 Hold a water conservation workshop or a “River Clean-Up” in partnership with local environmental groups. 
• Rent kayaks or canoes and talk about journeys as you paddle. 

Sept 27 (Sun): World Day of Migrants and Refugees 

• 📖 Learn about the situation of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Israel with this roleplaying simulation program 
• 🧿 Host an International Brunch featuring stories and foods from Jewish communities around the globe. 

Sept 28 (Mon): Ask a Stupid Question Day 

• 📖 There’s no such thing as a stupid question in Jewish culture, but this could be a great day to host an AMA [Ask Me Anything] event with a Jewish educator – ask your JLS if they’re available! 

Sept 29 (Tue): International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste 

• 🌱 Host a Leftovers Potluck or a workshop on reducing food waste, connecting it to the Jewish value of Bal Tashchit. 

Sept 30 (Wed): National Day for Truth & Reconciliation (Canada) 

• 🌱 Host an educational evening discussing the history of the Canadian Indian residential school system and ways to support reconciliation. 

Compiled by Annie Prusky, with contributions made by Abbey London, Rabbi Rachael Pass, and Rabbi Shari Shamah