Services
Soon shofars will be sounding around the world as we hear the call to welcome in this new year of hope, meaning, rebalance and renewal. We use this time as a gateway to connect to these powerful and sacred days of awe.
Click here to skip to the service listings.
Click here for Elul Preparation, Organ Recital, S'lichot Service, and Mikvah information.
Registration for High Holy Day services has closed. We have reached capacity for in person Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur services. You may join us virtually, from the comfort of your home, for many of the services. Simply login in to www.emanuelsf.org/live
One service each day will be livestreamed for the community. Click here to view an updated archive of High Holy Days services and sermons. Click here to order a Machzor for your Jewish library. Please read the service schedule for details. Registration is required for all services. Service styles are identical to last year; a combination of classic and contemporary with both cantors leading. Services leaders and sermons are noted for each service.
— services with this icon will be livestreamed and publicly available. Click on the service link to learn more.
— services with this icon are available in person for temple members (registration required). Some in-person offerings are also open to the community if specified in the event description.
We will combine the grandeur and majesty of the "Classic" Service, with the warmth and intimacy of the "Contemporary" Service. Join together in a service which will be a hybrid of styles that our community has come to know and love. There will be two services each day in this combined style. The rabbis leading each service are listed by service. Cantors Attie and Luck will provide music with their accompanists.
All services will be available in person for Emanu-El members. One service each day will be livestreamed and open to the community. These livestreamed services will be beautifully and professionally produced so the magnificence of the sacred season can be felt by all who join online.
Please consult the schedule for in person and livestream designations. Advanced registration is required for all in person offerings and services.
Monday, Sept 6
Erev Rosh HaShanah
Opening The Gates Erev Rosh HaShanah Service
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Service led by Rabbi Sydney Mintz and Rabbi Ryan Bauer. Sermon by Rabbi Jonathan Singer.
Tuesday, Sept 7
Rosh HaShanah Day
Opening The Gates: Rosh HaShanah Service
10:00am-11:45am
Service led by Rabbi Jason Rodich and Rabbi Jonathan Singer. Sermon by Rabbi Sydney Mintz.
Apples and Honey Rosh HaShanah Service for Young Families
10:00am-11:00am
Presidio Wall Park
Join Rabbi Sarah Joselow Parris and Jonathan Bayer for outdoor children's services and activities from 10:00 am - 11:00 am at Presidio Wall (Julius Kahn park)! Stop by for a bit or stay a while with a blanket and enjoy celebrating Rosh HaShanah together with other young families.
We will have some activities to share that you can enjoy with your family pod and at 10:15 am there will be a musical children's service and story time (aimed at children ages 4-7).
This service is open to members and the entire community. Registration is required.
Zoom Learning Session with Rabbi Sarah Joselow Parris
2:30pm - 3:30pm
New Year, New Me: Judaism’s Take on Renewal and New Beginnings
The Mishnah teaches us that there are four new years and that Rosh Hashanah is but one of them. As we enter the 10 days of reflection and repentance, join with Rabbi Sarah Joselow Parris to reflect and learn together about Judaism’s wisdom about renewal and new spiritual beginnings.
The program will be held via Zoom. Registration is required. The session will not be livestreamed — registrants will receive the Zoom link before the session.
Wednesday, Sept 8
2nd Day Rosh HaShanah
Second Day Rosh HaShanah Service
10:00am - 12:00pm
Cantor Arik Luck and musicians, along with Rabbi Jonathan Singer, Rabbi Ryan Bauer and Rabbinic Intern, Leo Fuchs, will lead a full-length, eclectic traditional style Reform Rosh HaShanah service. The music will draw upon multiple genres, including the master composers of the old world, Eastern European chazzanut, Emanu-El commissioned music from nearly 100 years ago, as well as newer, elevated melodies
Return Again: Community Service led by Teens
2:30pm-3:30pm
Community Service led by our teens who will share song, worship, poetry and prose. Led by Cantor Attie and musical accompanists.
Tashlich: Letting Go Together (Service and Concert)
5:30pm - 7:00pm
Baker Beach
After a year of isolation, we can finally all come together in a safe outdoor event with our cantors and musicians in joyous song and Rosh HaShanah celebration. As instructed by the Prophet Micah, we'll cast bread on the water and bid goodbye (and good riddance) to this past year.
Bring the family, bring a blanket or beach chairs and some snacks. Dress in layers. Sing along.
Wednesday, Sept 15
Kol Nidre
Opening The Gates: Kol Nidre Service 2
8:15pm - 9:45pm
Service led by Rabbi Sydney Mintz and Rabbi Jason Rodich. Sermon by Rabbi Ryan Bauer.
Thursday, Sept 16
Yom Kippur Day
Opening The Gates: Yom Kippur Day Service
10:00am - 11:30am
Service led by Rabbi Jonathan Singer and Rabbi Ryan Bauer. Sermon by Rabbi Jason Rodich
Apples and Honey: Yom Kippur Service for Young Families
10:00am - 11:00am
Presidio Wall Park
Join Rabbi Sarah Joselow Parris, Rabbi Sydney Mintz and Jonathan Bayer for outdoor children's services and activities at Presidio Wall (Julius Kahn park)! Stop by for a bit or stay a while with a blanket and mark the day of Yom Kippur together with other young families.
We will have some activities to share that you can enjoy with your family pod and at 10:15 am there will be a musical children's service and story time (aimed at children ages 4-7).
This service is open to members and the entire community. Registration is required.
Learning Session with Taube Scholar, Senior Rabbi Emeritus, Stephen Pearce, Ph.D
12:00-1:00pm
Virtual - Zoom
"That Reminds me of a Joke" - Well-placed humor has enormous impact because it reveals hidden truths, as Shakespeare wrote in King Lear: “Jesters do oft prove prophets. This workshop will explore the power of purpose-driven humor as opposed to random off-the-cuff comments merely meant to get a laugh.
The program will be held via Zoom. Registration is required. The session will not be livestreamed — registrants will receive the Zoom link before the session.
Learning Session with Emanu-El Scholar, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
1:30-2:30pm
Virtual - Zoom
The ONLY thing God ever says: 'Come Home’: A re-examination of some of the classical texts on the importance and meaning of Teshuva.
The program will be held via Zoom. Registration is required. The session will not be livestreamed — registrants will receive the Zoom link before the session.
Meditation and Healing in the Redwoods
1:30pm-3:00pm
Meet at the front gate of the Temple to walk to the Redwoods together.
Join Rabbi Sydney Mintz, Rabbi Jason Rodich and our musicians as we journey together from the Temple through the Arguello Gate and into the redwoods for guided meditation, music, silence, chanting and healing prayers. Never been to the redwoods on Yom Kippur before? Join us! Annual tradition of going with Emanu-El to the redwoods? Join us (again!). Love the intimate experience of the healing service of past years? Join us this year to experience sacred space and time in the redwoods.
Translating Our Values Into Action: A Yom Kippur Tzedek Council Program For Members
1:30pm - 3:00pm
Martin Meyer Sanctuary
Join us this Yom Kippur to renew our commitment in transforming our world from how it is to how it ought to be. Dr. Sheryl Evans Davis, Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission will be our keynote speaker, giving a state of the union on homelessness in the Bay Area. Following, we will hear from youth leaders at Youth Spirit Artworks on the impact that local community support has made on their lives. Our activism creates a living Judaism that will endure.
Return Again: Community Service led by Teens
3:00pm - 4:00pm
A one-hour community Service led by our teens who will lead us in song, worship, poetry and prose.
Led by Cantor Attie and musical accompanists.
Meditational Azkarah Afternoon Service
4:30pm - 5:15pm
We take a meditative, musical journey through the Jewish past as we seek inspiration to push open the gates of a new year of meaning.
Yizkor/Neilah/Havdallah Servce
5:30pm - 7:00pm