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Jewish Holidays

Leil Selichot: (Saturday evening, Sept 13^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 a) lost touch with, want to tell how much they mean to you, or want to apologize for something. 
• 🧿 Selichot to song – collect songs that have themes such as saying sorry, repentance, trying harder, promises. Let 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! 

Rosh Hashanah: (Sundown, Sept 22-Sundown, Sept 24^th)

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year! It is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year while also taking stock of one’s life. Themes include Birthday of the World, Introspection, New Year’s resolutions, forgiveness, self-care. 

• 🌱 Reverse Tashlich
  • Tashlich is the ritual of the casting off your sins into a body of water. This year in partnership with Repair the Sea, we are reversing the tradition of Tashlich and removing human sins (aka trash) from waterways in a collaborative international environmental cleanup. Host a program on Sunday, September 28th, or anytime in September! 
    • Register HERE and find more details  
    • HERE is the Reverse Tashlich service learning in 6 languages
• 🧿 Host a Shabbat Shuva Torah/Clothing Swap to refresh our hearts and our wardrobes for the new year ahead. 
• 📖 MH walk or run meet up to focus on the value of Shmirat HaGuf (taking care of our bodies) for the new year. 
• 🧿/🫂 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. 
• 🌱/📖 Apple picking and a 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/donation in Temple times).
• 🌱 Apple recipes or round challah bake off – Bake double and donate to a local community center, community fridge, etc.
• 🧿 Build your Bucket List for this year, with a Jewish twist!
• 🌱/📖 Rosh Hashanah hike – use readings/prayers as you go for added Tikkun Olam clean the trail as you hike (or pair with Reverse Tashlich)

Tzom Gedalia: September 25^th (sunrise to sunset)

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

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Torah Portions

September 6^th: Parashat Ki Tetzei – “When you go out”

In this Torah portion, Moses delivers specific rules about proper family relationships. He continues with laws involving many aspects of daily living, justice, family responsibility, work and sexuality. 

• 🌱 Volunteer with a local organization that focuses on youth programming (Deut 21:18). 
• 🌱 Make bird houses to donate to a local nursing home or community center or make eco-friendly bird feeders (Deut 22:6) 
• 📖 Host a kosher wine tasting (Deut 23:25),  
• 🌱 Advocacy for Get (Jewish divorce papers), (Deut 24:1) look at organizations that support women who can’t get a Get such as Organization for the Resolution of Agunot 
• 🫂/🌱/📖 Ask your JLS for resources on Jewish law in terms of a marriage, and discuss the laws of consent and legal rights.  
• 🫂/📖- Host a program speaking on the effects of Domestic Abuse, and or volunteer at a women’s shelter. (Deut 24:1)

September 13^th: Parashat Ki Tavo – “When you come”

In this Torah portion, Moses instructs the Israelites regarding the first fruit offering. Moses then lists the blessings the people will enjoy if they keep the commandments, and the punishments they will suffer for disobeying them. 

• 🌱/📖 Volunteer at food pantry or to help with food insecurity (Deut 24:19) 
• 📖 Create gratitude journals or gratitude jars which include Jewish quotes about thankfulness 

September 20^th: Parashat Nitzavim – “Standing”

In this Torah portion, 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. 

• 📖 Star gazing or astronomy program (Deut 30:12)

September 27^th: Parashat Vayeilech / Shabbat Shuvah – “And he returned” / “Shabbat of Return”

In this Torah portion, 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. 

• 📖 Repentance Poetry Slam (Deut 31:19)
• 🌱 Poetry Feedback with Free Minds (Deut 31:19), Provide feedback and comments on poems written by incarcerated folks with Free Minds 
• 🧿 Host a Shabbat Shuvah Torah/Clothing Swap to refresh our hearts and our wardrobes for the new year ahead. 
• 🧿 If you hosted the Elul Reflection Journal program at the beginning of the month, consider hosting a follow up open-mic program for community members to share their reflections on forgiveness, teshuvah, self-reflection, etc.

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Secular Celebrations and Remembrances

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 

September 1^st:

• 🫂 National Food Safety Day: Host a program focusing on food safety. You can look into the practices of the FDA (Federal Department of Agriculture). Food safety is a big deal in terms of rural farmers and the food industry in general. What we consume highly affects us, and those who are unable to purchase fresh food often fair worse. Additionally, environmental concerns affect our food, i.e. fish farms, floods, dying crops, and many other things. You could also have a discussion on regulation of food dyes and that recent change, and or host a program using natural dyes for drinks and foods.  
• 🌱 Labor Day: Honor the labor movement and the achievements in working conditions by hosting a gathering using your purchase power to support ethical business and learn about the labor movement (including the Jewish ones!), or inviting a speaker to learn about local worker right’s group. 

September 3^rd:

• 🧿 National Cinema Day: Host a Jewish rom com movie night with this ready to go program!

September 5^th:

• 🧿/📖 National Cheese Pizza Day: Use this ready-to-go Jewish Pizza Party Program!  

September 6^th:

• 📖 National Tailgate Day: Bust out your college gear, fire up the grill, and learn about the barbecue party at the end of the world. 
• 🌱 Read a Book Day: Host a book swap and donate or craft bookmarks to donate to a local literacy non-profit or after-school program.

September 7^th: 

• 🧿 National Grandparents Day Host a storytelling evening (or better yet…a powerpoint party) telling stories about your grandparents! 
• 📖 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. 

September 8^th: 

• 📖 Star Trek Day: Pick an episode of the Star Trek and the Jews podcast, screen the relevant episode, and discuss the Jewish themes therein. 
• 🫂 International Literacy Day: 85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally low-literate. For Jews, we are quite literally the people of the book. Plan a program could be a blind date with a (Jewish) book, or a book club, favorite book character party, with a discussion on the importance of being literate. 

September 9^th:

• 🌱 Teddy Bear Day: Head to Target or Walmart as a group to pick out teddy bears to donate. Or, have everyone bring one and go to a local organization that collects new or gently used teddy bears for this Tikkun Olam inspired teddy bear day. 

September 13^th:

• 🧿 Fortune Cookie Day: Make your own MH Themed fortune cookies with Rosh Hashanah-inspired messages 
• 📖 Positive Thinking Day: Happy Day. What makes you happy and positive? Create gratitude journals or gratitude jars which include Jewish quotes about thankfulness.

September 15^th:

• 🫂 International Day of Democracy: Have a program learning about another country and what democracy looks like there.  

September 16^th:

• 📖/🫂 Trail of Tears Remembrance Day: Learn about the indigenous communities in your area and reflect on the experience of exile with these program ideas.

September 19^th:

• 📖 International Talk like a Pirate Day: Host a Pirate Party and use Were There Really Jewish Pirates fact sheet for a Pirate themed grant. Bonus if your city has pontoons/boats you can charter to turn this into an epic Pirate Shabbat

September 20^th:

• 📖 Pepperoni Pizza Day: Make your own pizzas with pepperoni substitutes while learning about what’s so Jewish about pork. 

September 21^st:

• 🌱 World Gratitude Day: Write notes of gratitude to those that serve others and often are thanked. Your local ER nurses, teachers, volunteers at a food pantry, volunteers at a suicide hotline, volunteers at a gun violence prevention org, etc. Jewish service learning here or Joy, Postivity, Gratitude.
• 🌱 National Clean Up Day. Organize a beach/park/neighborhood trash clean up! 

September 23^rd:

• 🫂/📖 International Day of Sign Languages: Learn about Israeli sign language and Jewish signs in ASL with this ready-to-go program. 

September 25^th:

• 📖 World Dream Day: Use Talmudic passages to have a dream analysis gathering or consider using this program on Jewish dream exploration!  

September 26th:

• 📖/🫂 National Dumpling Day: From Ethiopian tihlo to Brazilian pasteis, from Chinese wontons to Polish pierogis, Jews around the world love dumplings! Order dumplings from a local restaurant (or do a dumpling taste test!) and learn about the Jewish communities in their regions of origin. 

September 27^th:

• 📖 Ancestor Appreciation Day: Host a potluck or use a JIO grant to order dishes from your ancestors’ countries of origin and share what you know about your families’ pasts. 

September 28^th:

• 🌱 National Good Neighbor Day: What a perfect time to do something thoughtful for your MH neighbors who probably put up with some extra noise and chaos from your house/pod. Bake something, plant flowers, or deliver treats from a local coffee shop. 
• 📖 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! 

September 30^th: 

• 📖 National Olive Oil Day: Learn about the importance of olives to Jewish cultures and host an olive-oil tasting event with fresh-baked bread 

Compiled by Rabbi Shari Shamah with contributions by Adena Walker, Adira Rosen, Annie Prusky, and Jessica Herrmann